Quantum Gravity

Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe the force of gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics.

Our current understanding of gravity is based on Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which is formulated within the framework of classical physics. On the other hand, the non gravitational forces are described within the framework of quantum mechanics, a radically different formalism for describing physical phenomena based on probability. The necessity of a quantum mechanical description of gravity follows from the fact that one cannot consistently couple a classical system to a quantum one.

Although a quantum theory of gravity is needed in order to reconcile general relativity with the principles of quantum mechanics, difficulties arise when one attempts to apply the usual prescriptions of quantum field theory to the force of gravity. From a technical point of view, the problem is that the theory one gets in this way is not renormalizable and therefore cannot be used to make meaningful physical predictions. As a result, theorists have taken up more radical approaches to the problem of quantum gravity, the most popular approaches being string theory and loop quantum gravity.

Strictly speaking, the aim of quantum gravity is only to describe the quantum behavior of the gravitational field and should not be confused with the objective of unifying all fundamental interactions into a single mathematical framework. Although some quantum gravity theories such as string theory try to unify gravity with the other fundamental forces, others such as loop quantum gravity make no such attempt; instead, they make an effort to quantize the gravitational field while it is kept separate from the other forces. A theory of quantum gravity which is also a grand unification of all known interactions, is sometimes referred to as a theory of everything (TOE).

One of the difficulties of quantum gravity is that quantum gravitational effects are only expected to become apparent near the Planck scale, a scale far smaller in distance (equivalently, far larger in energy) than what is currently accessible at high energy particle accelerators. As a result, quantum gravity is a mainly theoretical enterprise, although there are speculations about how quantum gravity effects might be observed in existing experiments.

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HOW DO GRAVITONS ESCAPE FROM A BLACK HOLE?

In Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, the force of gravity around a black hole is described solely by the warping or curvature of ‘space-time’. However, many scientists believe we can also describe gravity, just like the other forces of nature, as the exchange of ‘virtual’ particles – in the same way that particles of light, photons, carry the electromagnetic force. Unfortunately there is, as yet, no such quantum theory of gravity that would describe how it works at this level, although we have some clues as to what it might look like. But crucially, these ‘virtual’ gravitational particles (called ‘gravitons’) aren’t bound by the normal rules of physics. They can pretty much do what they like, including travelling faster than light, as long as they do it before we notice them! Consequently, a black hole’s event horizon presents no barrier to gravitons and hence their communication with the outside Universe.