Einstein's theory of General Relativity is known to break down (become singular) when gravitational fields become sufficiently strong. The Big Bang is an example. A similar breakdown in electromagnetism on the atomic scale is cured by switching to a theory that obeys the principles of quantum mechanics. It is hoped that a quantum theory of gravity will remove the singularities in General Relativity. The research performed under this award aims to provide new insights and discover novel directions to answer fundamental questions on the removal (or resolution) of these singularities. Quantum gravitational effects will be systematically taken into account to understand the way singularities in cosmological and black hole spacetimes are resolved. By building on quantum cosmology (the quantization of simple model universes), investigations on more complex models will be performed with the goal of yielding insights on the generic resolution of singularities in quantum gravity. Phenomenological models will be built to understand broad ramifications of the quantum gravity effects in the cosmological scenarios. Another goal of the research will to be address related foundational issues in quantum cosmology, such as a consistent way to assign probabilities for events in a quantum universe.
This research will lead to deeper understanding of the new physics at the quantum gravity (Planck) scale that will have broad implications for quantum gravity, cosmology and other areas of physics. The research on singularity resolution in different models will provide useful hints on the full theory of quantum gravity. This NSF award will also lead to a training of a graduate student leading to a long term impact on his/her research career. Results obtained in this award will be disseminated to the scientific community by writing scholarly articles and seminars in conferences and workshops. The fundamental questions addressed in this award also have broad interest of the general public. Results will be disseminated to the public in various ways including contributions to the loop quantum gravity website.
