The goal of this review is to present an introduction to loop quantum gravity—a background-independent, non-perturbative approach to the problem of unification of general relativity and quantum physics, based on a quantum theory of geometry. Our presentation is pedagogical. Thus, in addition to providing a bird's eye view of the present status of the subject, the review should also serve as a vehicle to enter the field and explore it in detail. To aid non-experts, very little is assumed beyond elements of general relativity, gauge theories and quantum field theory. While the review is essentially self-contained, the emphasis is on communicating the underlying ideas and the significance of results rather than on presenting systematic derivations and detailed proofs. (These can be found in the listed references.) The subject can be approached in different ways. We have chosen one which is deeply rooted in well-established physics and also has sufficient mathematical precision to ensure that there are no hidden infinities. In order to keep the review to a reasonable size, and to avoid overwhelming non-experts, we have had to leave out several interesting topics, results and viewpoints; this is meant to be an introduction to the subject rather than an exhaustive review of it.

Background independent quantum gravity: A Status report

Perturbative scattering amplitudes in Yang-Mills theory have many unexpected properties, such as holomorphy of the maximally helicity violating amplitudes. To interpret these results, we Fourier transform the scattering amplitudes from momentum space to twistor space, and argue that the transformed amplitudes are supported on certain holomorphic curves. This in turn is apparently a consequence of an equivalence between the perturbative expansion of = 4 super Yang-Mills theory and the D-instanton expansion of a certain string theory, namely the topological B model whose target space is the Calabi-Yau supermanifold

Perturbative Gauge Theory as a String Theory in Twistor Space

Metric affine gauge theory of gravity: Field equations, Noether identities, world spinors, and breaking of dilation invariance

Many aspects of the large-scale structure of the Universe can be described successfully using cosmological models in which $27\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1%$ of the critical mass-energy density consists of cold dark matter (CDM). However, few---if any---of the predictions of CDM models have been successful on scales of $\ensuremath{\sim}10\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kpc}$ or less. This lack of success is usually explained by the difficulty of modeling baryonic physics (star formation, supernova and black-hole feedback, etc.). An intriguing alternative to CDM is that the dark matter is an extremely light ($m\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$) boson having a de Broglie wavelength $\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\sim}1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kpc}$, often called fuzzy dark matter (FDM). We describe the arguments from particle physics that motivate FDM, review previous work on its astrophysical signatures, and analyze several unexplored aspects of its behavior. In particular, (i) FDM halos or subhalos smaller than about $1{0}^{7}(m/{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}3/2}$ ${M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ do not form, and the abundance of halos smaller than a few times $1{0}^{10}(m/{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}4/3}$ ${M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ is substantially smaller in FDM than in CDM. (ii) FDM halos are comprised of a central core that is a stationary, minimum-energy solution of the Schr\"odinger-Poisson equation, sometimes called a ``soliton,'' surrounded by an envelope that resembles a CDM halo. The soliton can produce a distinct signature in the rotation curves of FDM-dominated systems. (iii) The transition between soliton and envelope is determined by a relaxation process analogous to two-body relaxation in gravitating N-body systems, which proceeds as if the halo were composed of particles with mass $\ensuremath{\sim}\ensuremath{\rho}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{3}$ where $\ensuremath{\rho}$ is the halo density. (iv) Relaxation may have substantial effects on the stellar disk and bulge in the inner parts of disk galaxies, but has negligible effect on disk thickening or globular cluster disruption near the solar radius. (v) Relaxation can produce FDM disks but a FDM disk in the solar neighborhood must have a half-thickness of at least $\ensuremath{\sim}300(m/{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}2/3}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{pc}$ and a midplane density less than $0.2(m/{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}{)}^{2/3}$ times the baryonic disk density. (vi) Solitonic FDM subhalos evaporate by tunneling through the tidal radius and this limits the minimum subhalo mass inside $\ensuremath{\sim}30\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kpc}$ of the Milky Way to a few times $1{0}^{8}(m/{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}3/2}$ ${M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$. (vii) If the dark matter in the Fornax dwarf galaxy is composed of CDM, most of the globular clusters observed in that galaxy should have long ago spiraled to its center, and this problem is resolved if the dark matter is FDM. (viii) FDM delays galaxy formation relative to CDM but its galaxy-formation history is consistent with current observations of high-redshift galaxies and the late reionization observed by Planck. If the dark matter is composed of FDM, most observations favor a particle mass $\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ and the most significant observational consequences occur if the mass is in the range $1--10\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$. There is tension with observations of the Lyman-$\ensuremath{\alpha}$ forest, which favor $m\ensuremath{\gtrsim}10--20\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ and we discuss whether more sophisticated models of reionization may resolve this tension.

Ultralight scalars as cosmological dark matter

All purely bosonic supersymmetric solutions of minimal supergravity in five dimensions are classified. The solutions preserve either one half or all of the supersymmetry. Explicit examples of new solutions are given, including a large family of plane-fronted waves and a maximally supersymmetric analogue of the Godel universe which lifts to a solution of 11-dimensional supergravity that preserves 20 supersymmetries.

All supersymmetric solutions of minimal supergravity in five- dimensions

All metrics admitting super-covariantly constant spinors

This book is an introduction to twistor theory and modern geometrical approaches to space-time structure at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level. The choice of material presented has evolved from graduate courses given in London and Oxford and the authors have aimed to retain the informal tone of those lectures. Topics covered include spinor algebra andcalculus; compactified Minkowski space; the geometry of null congruences; the geometry of twistor space; an informal account of sheaf cohomology sufficient to describe the twistor solution for the zero rest-mass equations; the active twistor constructions which solve the self-dual Yang-Mills and Einstein equations; and Penrose's quasi- local-mass construction. Exercises are included in the text and after most chapters. The book will provide graduate students with an introduction to the literature of twistor theory, presupposing some knowledge of special relativity and differential geometry. It would also be of use for a short course on space-time structure independent of twistor theory.

An Introduction to Twistor Theory

The authors relate the Hitchin correspondence (1982) between minitwistor spaces and Einstein-Weyl spaces to the Penrose correspondence between twistor spaces and spacetimes with anti-self-dual Weyl tensor. They show explicitly how to obtain an Einstein-Weyl space from such a spacetime with a conformal Killing vector and provide some examples. They also relate the converse problem to the solution of a generalised monopole equation.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0264-9381/2/4/021/pdf

Minitwistor spaces and Einstein-Weyl spaces

The Schrodinger-Newton (S-N) equations were proposed by Penrose [18] as a model for gravitational collapse of the wave-function. The potential in the Schrodinger equation is the gravity due to the density of $|\psi|^2$, where $\psi$ is the wave-function. As with normal Quantum Mechanics the probability, momentum and angular momentum are conserved. We first consider the spherically symmetric case, here the stationary solutions have been found numerically by Moroz et al [15] and Jones et al [3]. The ground state which has the lowest energy has no zeros. The higher states are such that the $(n+1)$th state has $n$ zeros. We consider the linear stability problem for the stationary states, which we numerically solve using spectral methods. The ground state is linearly stable since it has only imaginary eigenvalues. The higher states are linearly unstable having imaginary eigenvalues except for $n$ quadruples of complex eigenvalues for the $(n+1)$th state, where a quadruple consists of $\{\lambda,\bar{\lambda},-\lambda,-\bar{\lambda}\}$. Next we consider the nonlinear evolution, using a method involving an iteration to calculate the potential at the next time step and Crank-Nicolson to evolve the Schrodinger equation. To absorb scatter we use a sponge factor which reduces the reflection back from the outer boundary condition and we show that the numerical evolution converges for different mesh sizes and time steps. Evolution of the ground state shows it is stable and added perturbations oscillate at frequencies determined by the linear perturbation theory. The higher states are shown to be unstable, emitting scatter and leaving a rescaled ground state. The rate at which they decay is controlled by the complex eigenvalues of the linear perturbation. Next we consider adding another dimension in two different ways: by considering the axisymmetric case and the 2-D equations. The stationary solutions are found. We modify the evolution method and find that the higher states are unstable. In 2-D case we consider rigidly rotationing solutions and show they exist and are unstable.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0951-7715/16/1/307/pdf

K. P. Tod

Papers

All metrics admitting super-covariantly constant spinors

An Introduction to Twistor Theory

Minitwistor spaces and Einstein-Weyl spaces

A numerical study of the Schrödinger-Newton equations

The Theory of H-space