Saurya Das

University of Lethbridge · Department of Physics and Astronomy

A consistent theory of quantum gravity will require a fully quantum formulation of the classical equivalence principle. Such a formulation has been recently proposed in terms of the equality of the rest, inertial and gravitational mass operators, and for non-relativistic particles in a weak gravitational field. In this work, we propose a generaliza...

A consistent theory of quantum gravity will require a fully quantum formulation of the classical equivalence principle. Such a formulation has been recently proposed in terms of the equality of the rest, inertial and gravitational mass operators, and for non-relativistic particles in a weak gravitational field. In this work, we propose a generaliza...

A possibility to describe quantum gravitational fluctuations of the spacetime background is provided by virtual $D$-branes. These effects may induce a tiny violation of the Lorentz invariance (as well as a possible violation of the equivalence principle). In this framework, we study the formation of light elements in the early Universe (Big Bang Nu...

The mass of an astrophysical object can be estimated by the amount of gravitational lensing of another object that it causes. To arrive at the estimation however, one assumes the validity of the inverse square law of gravity, or equivalently an attractive $1/r$ potential. We show that the above, augmented by a logarithmic potential at galactic leng...

The mass of an astrophysical object can be estimated by the amount of gravitational lensing of another object that it causes. To arrive at the estimation however, one assumes the validity of the inverse square law of gravity, or equivalently an attractive 1/r potential. We show that the above, augmented by a logarithmic potential at galactic length...

In classical gravity, nothing can escape from a black hole, not even light. In particular, this happens for stationary black holes because their horizons are null. We show, on the other hand, that the apparent horizon and the region near r = 0 of an evaporating charged, rotating black hole are both timelike. This implies that there exists a channel...

A recent study established a correspondence between the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) and Modified theories of gravity, particularly Stelle gravity. We investigate the consequences of this correspondence for inflation and cosmological observables by evaluating the power spectrum of the scalar and tensor perturbations using two distinct me...

It has recently been shown that any observed potential can in principle be generated via quantum mechanics using a suitable wave function. In this work, we consider the concrete example of the gravitational potential experienced by a test particle at length scales spanning from the planetary to the cosmological, and determine the wave function that...

In this essay, we show that Newton’s gravitational potential, augmented by a logarithmic term, partly or wholly mitigates the need for dark matter. As a bonus, it also explains why MOND seems to work at galactic scales. We speculate on the origin of such a potential.

It has recently been shown that any observed potential can in principle be generated via quantum mechanics using a suitable wavefunction. In this work, we consider the concrete example of the gravitational potential experienced by a test particle at length scales spanning from the planetary to the cosmological, and determine the wavefunction that w...

A recent study established a correspondence between the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) and Modified theories of gravity, particularly Stelle gravity. We investigate the consequences of this correspondence for inflation and cosmological observables by evaluating the power spectrum of the scalar and tensor perturbations using two distinct me...

The Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionisation Signature (EDGES) collaboration has recently reported an important result related to the absorption signal in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation spectrum. This signal corresponds to the red-shifted 21-cm line at $$z \simeq 17.2$$ z ≃ 17.2 , whose amplitude is about twice the expected...

We review, as well as provide some new results regarding the study of the structure of spacetime and the singularity in the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole in both loop quantum gravity and generalized uncertainty principle approaches, using congruences and their associated expansion scalar and the Raychaudhuri equation. We reaffirm previou...

Black holes are conjectured to be the fastest quantum scramblers in nature, with the stretched horizon being the scrambling boundary. Under this assumption, we show that any infalling body must couple to virtually the entire black hole Hilbert space even prior to the Page time in order for there to be any hope of preserving the often-cited claim of...

We show that Newton's gravitational potential, augmented by a logarithmic term, partly or wholly mitigates the need for dark matter. As a bonus, it also explains why MOND seems to work at galactic scales. We speculate on the origin of such a potential.

Theories of Quantum Gravity predict a minimum measurable length and a corresponding modification of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle to the so-called Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP). However, this modification is usually formulated in non-relativistic language, making it unclear whether the minimum length is Lorentz invariant. We have f...

We review, as well as provide some new results regarding the study of the structure of spacetime and the singularity in the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole in both loop quantum gravity and generalized uncertainty principle approaches, using congruences and their associated expansion scalar and the Raychaudhuri equation. We reaffirm previou...

We examine the viability of cosmological solution(s) describing a unified picture of the dark side of the universe from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of light bosons. The energy density of the BEC, together with its quantum potential, can indeed account for such a unification, in the sense that the (dust-like) cold dark matter and the dark energ...

The Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP), which is a generalization of the familiar Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, is predicted by most theories of quantum gravity, and in turn predicts a minimum measurable length in nature. GUP includes an undetermined parameter, whose allowed range has been suggested by various experiments, but whose precis...

The dynamics of a quantum particle is governed by its wavefunction, which in turn is determined by the classical potential to which it is subjected. However the wavefunction itself induces a quantum potential, the particle ‘sees’ the sum of the classical and quantum potentials, and there is no way to separate the two. Therefore in principle, part o...

The dynamics of a quantum particle is governed by its wavefunction, which in turn is determined by the classical potential to which it is subjected. However the wavefunction itself induces a quantum potential, the particle `sees' the sum of the classical and quantum potentials, and there is no way to separate the two. Therefore in principle, part o...

The unexplained observed baryon asymmetry in the Universe is a long-standing problem in physics, with no satisfactory resolution so far. To explain this asymmetry, three Sakharov conditions must be met. An interaction term which couples space-time and the baryon current is considered, which satisfies the first two Sakharov conditions. Furthermore,...

In this essay, we show that if one starts with a universe with some matter and a cosmological constant, then quantum mechanics naturally induces an attractive gravitational potential and an effective Newton’s coupling. Thus, gravity is an emergent phenomenon and what should be quantized are the fundamental degrees of freedom from which it emerges.

In classical gravity, nothing can escape from a black hole, not even light. In particular, this happens for stationary black holes because their horizons are null. We show, on the other hand, that the apparent horizon and the region near r = 0 of an evaporating charged, rotating black hole are both timelike. This implies that there exists a channel...

We study Quantum Gravity effects in cosmology, and in particular that of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle on the Friedmann equations. We show that the Quantum Gravity induced variations of the energy density and pressure in the radiation dominated era provide a viable explanation of the observed baryon asymmetry in the Universe.

We show that loop quantum gravity effects leads to the finiteness of expansion and its rate of change in the effective regime in the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole. As a consequence the singularity is resolved.

The Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionisation Signature (EDGES) collaboration has recently reported an important result related to the absorption signal in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation spectrum. This signal corresponds to the red-shifted 21-cm line at $z \simeq 17.2$, whose amplitude is about twice the expected value. This...

Quantum theories of gravity predict interesting phenomenological features such as a minimum measurable length and maximum momentum. We use the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP), which is an extension of the standard Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle motivated by Quantum Gravity, to model the above features. In particular, we use a GUP with mod...

A bstract The classical Raychaudhuri equation predicts the formation of conjugate points for a congruence of geodesics, in a finite proper time. This in conjunction with the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems predicts the incompleteness of geodesics and thereby the singular nature of practically all spacetimes. We compute the generic corrections...

We study Quantum Gravity effects in cosmology, and in particular that of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle on the Friedmann equations. We show that the Generalized Uncertainty Principle induces variations of the energy density and pressure in the radiation-dominated era which provide a viable explanation for the observed baryon asymmetry in the...

We show that the apparent horizon and the region near [Formula: see text] of an evaporating charged, rotating black hole are timelike. It then follows that black holes in nature, which invariably have some rotation, have a channel, via which classical or quantum information can escape to the outside, while the black hole shrinks in size. We discuss...

Quantum theories of gravity predict interesting phenomenological features such as a minimum measurable length and maximum momentum. We use the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP), which is an extension of the standard Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle motivated by Quantum Gravity, to model the above features. In particular, we use a GUP with mod...

We compute bounds on the GUP parameters for two versions of GUP using gravitational wave data from the events GW150914 and GW190521. The speed of the graviton and photon are calculated in a curved spacetime modified by GUP, assuming that these particles have a small mass. The observational bound on the difference in their speeds translates to bound...

The classical Raychaudhuri equation predicts the formation of conjugate points for a congruence of geodesics, in a finite proper time. This in conjunction with the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems predicts the incompleteness of geodesics and thereby the singular nature of practically all spacetimes. We compute the generic corrections to the Ray...

We show that if one starts with a Universe with some matter and a cosmological constant, then quantum mechanics naturally induces an attractive gravitational potential and an effective Newton's coupling. Thus gravity is an emergent phenomenon and what should be quantized are the fundamental degrees of freedom from which it emerges.

We derive loop quantum gravity corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole and near the classical singularity. We show that the resulting effective equation implies defocusing of geodesics due to the appearance of repulsive terms. This prevents the formation of conjugate points, renders the singularity the...

We derive loop quantum gravity corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole and near the classical singularity. We show that the resulting effective equation implies defocusing of geodesics due to the appearance of repulsive terms. This prevents the formation of conjugate points, renders the singularity the...

The Planck or the quantum gravity scale, being $16$ orders of magnitude greater than the electroweak scale, is often considered inaccessible by current experimental techniques. However, it was shown recently by one of the current authors that quantum gravity effects via the Generalized Uncertainty Principle affects the time required for free wavepa...

It has been shown beyond reasonable doubt that the majority (about 95%) of the total energy budget of the universe is given by dark components, namely Dark Matter and Dark Energy. What constitutes these components remains to be satisfactorily understood however, despite a number of promising candidates. An associated conundrum is that of the coinci...

It has been shown beyond reasonable doubt that the majority (about 95%) of the total energy budget of the universe is given by the dark components, namely Dark Matter and Dark Energy. What constitutes these components remains to be satisfactorily understood however, despite a number of promising candidates. An associated conundrum is that of the co...

We compute bounds on the GUP parameters for two versions of GUP using gravitational wave data from the events GW150914 and GW190521. The speed of the graviton and photon are calculated in a curved spacetime modified by GUP, assuming that these particles have a small mass. The observational bound on the difference in their speeds translates to bound...

We derive Loop Quantum Gravity corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole and near the classical singularity. We show that the resulting effective equation implies defocusing of geodesics due to the appearance of repulsive terms. This prevents the formation of conjugate points, renders the singularity the...

Continuing our earlier work on the application of the Relativistic Generalized Uncertainty Principle (RGUP) to quantum field theories, in this paper we study Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) with minimum length. We obtain expressions for the Lagrangian, Feynman rules and scattering amplitudes of the theory, and discuss their consequences for current a...

Recently, the authors presented a covariant extension of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) with a Lorentz invariant minimum length. This opens the way for constructing and exploring the observable consequences of minimum length in Relativistic Quantum Field Theories. In particular, we compute quantum gravity corrections to high energy sca...

A large class of quantum theories of gravity show that the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is modified to the “Generalised Uncertainty Principle” (GUP) near the Planckian scale. It has also been shown that the GUP induces perturbative corrections to all quantum mechanical Hamiltonians, even at low energies, and thereby introduces Planck scale co...

We compute the circuit complexity of scalar curvature perturbations on Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker cosmological backgrounds with a fixed equation of state w using the language of squeezed vacuum states. Backgrounds that are accelerating and expanding, or decelerating and contracting, exhibit features consistent with chaotic behavior, includ...

We show that if Dark Matter is made up of light bosons, they form a Bose–Einstein condensate in the early Universe. This in turn naturally induces a Dark Energy of approximately equal density and exerting negative pressure. This explains the so-called coincidence problem.

A large class of quantum theories of gravity show that the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is modified to the ``Generalised Uncertainty Principle" (GUP) near the Planckian scale. It has also been shown that the GUP induces perturbative corrections to all quantum mechanical Hamiltonians, even at low energies, and thereby introduces Planck scale c...

We compute the circuit complexity of scalar curvature perturbations on FLRW cosmological backgrounds with fixed equation of state $w$ using the language of squeezed vacuum states. Backgrounds that are accelerating and expanding, or decelerating and contracting, exhibit features consistent with chaotic behavior, including linearly growing complexity...

We compute the quantum circuit complexity of the evolution of scalar curvature perturbations on expanding backgrounds, using the language of squeezed vacuum states. In particular, we construct a simple cosmological model consisting of an early-time period of de Sitter expansion followed by a radiation-dominated era and track the evolution of comple...

We show that if Dark Matter is made up of light bosons, they form a Bose-Einstein condensate in the early Universe. This in turn naturally induces a Dark Energy of approximately equal density and exerting negative pressure.This explains the so-called coincidence problem.

Recently, the authors presented a covariant extension of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) with a Lorentz invariant minimum length. This opens the way for constructing and exploring the observable consequences of minimum length in Relativistic Quantum Field Theories. In particular, we compute quantum gravity corrections to high energy sca...

Continuing our earlier work on the application of the Relativistic Generalized Uncertainty Principle (RGUP) to quantum field theories, in this paper we study Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) with minimum length. We obtain expressions for the Lagrangian, Feynman rules and scattering amplitudes of the theory, and discuss their consequences for current a...

We address the comments on our paper (Todorinov et al., 2019) presented in Chargui (2020). We show that the points raised in Chargui (2020) do not contain any new results or valid criticisms.

We compute the quantum circuit complexity of the evolution of scalar curvature perturbations on expanding backgrounds, using the language of squeezed vacuum states. In particular, we construct a simple cosmological model consisting of an early-time period of de Sitter expansion followed by a radiation-dominated era and track the evolution of comple...

We investigate the observable consequences of Planck scale effects in the advanced gravitational wave detector by polymer quantizing the optical field in the arms of the interferometer. We construct a new set of polymer-modified creation and annihilation operators to quantize the optical field. Employing these polymer-modified operators, we obtain...

We investigate the observable consequences of Planck scale effects in the advanced gravitational-wave detector by polymer quantizing the optical field in the arms of the interferometer. For large values of polymer energy scale, compared to the frequency of photon field in the interferometer arms, we consider the optical field to be a collection of...

In order for spacetimes with static extra dimensions to have four-dimensional de Sitter expansion they must have at least positive curvature, warping sourced by the four-dimensional expansion, or violate the null energy condition everywhere in the extra dimensions. We show how this constraint arises from the null Raychaudhuri equation, and that it...

In order for spacetimes with static extra dimensions to have 4-dimensional de Sitter expansion they must have at least positive curvature, warping sourced by the 4-d expansion, or violate the null energy condition everywhere in the extra dimensions. We show how this constraint arises from the null Raychaudhuri equation, and that it is independent o...

We confront a non-relativistic Bose--Einstein Condensate (BEC) model of light bosons interacting gravitationally either through a Newtonian or a Yukawa potential with the observed rotational curves of $12$ dwarf galaxies. The baryonic component is modelled as an axisymmetric exponential disk and its characteristics are derived from the surface lumi...

The Generalized Uncertainty Principle and the related minimum length are normally considered in non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics. Extending it to relativistic theories is important for having a Lorentz invariant minimum length and for testing the modified Heisenberg principle at high energies. In this paper, we formulate a relativistic Generalize...

We show that Dark Matter consisting of ultralight bosons in a Bose-Einstein condensate induces, via its quantum potential, a small positive cosmological constant which matches the observed value. This explains its origin and why the densities of Dark Matter and Dark Energy are approximately equal.

We show that the standard Lorentz transformations admit an invariant mass (length) scale, such as the Planck scale. In other words, the frame independence of such a scale is built-in within those transformations, and one does not need to invoke the principle of relativity for their invariance. This automatically ensures the frame-independence of th...

We show that the standard Lorentz transformations admit an invariant mass (length) scale, such as the Planck scale. In other words, the frame independence of such scale is built-in within those transformations, and one does not need to invoke the principle of relativity for their invariance. This automatically ensures the frame-independence of the...

The Generalized Uncertainty Principle and the related minimum length are normally considered in non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics. Extending it to relativistic theories is important for having a Lorentz invariant minimum length and for testing the modified Heisenberg principle at high energies.In this paper, we formulate a relativistic Generalized...

We confront a non-relativistic Bose–Einstein Condensate (BEC) model of light bosons interacting gravitationally either through a Newtonian or a Yukawa potential with the observed rotational curves of 12 dwarf galaxies. The baryonic component is modeled as an axisymmetric exponential disk and its characteristics are derived from the surface luminosi...

In this note, we show that the methodology and conclusions of "Schwinger's Model of Angular Momentum with GUP" [arxiv:1808.00766] are flawed and that the conclusions of "Generalized Uncertainty Principle and angular momentum" (P. Bosso and S. Das) [arxiv:1607.01083] remain valid.

Applying the seminal work of Bose in 1924 on what was later known as Bose-Einstein statistics, Einstein predicted in 1925 that at sufficiently low temperatures, a macroscopic fraction of constituents of a gas of bosons will drop down to the lowest available energy state, forming a `giant molecule' or a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), described by a...

In this paper, we construct corrections to the raising and lowering (i.e. ladder) operators for a quantum harmonic oscillator subjected to a polynomial type perturbation of any degree and to any order in perturbation theory. We apply our formalism to a couple of examples, namely q and p 4 perturbations, and obtain the explicit form of those operato...

In this paper, we construct corrections to the raising and lowering (i.e. ladder) operators for a quantum harmonic oscillator subjected to a polynomial type perturbation of any degree and to any order in perturbation theory. We apply our formalism to a couple of examples, namely q and p⁴ perturbations, and obtain the explicit form of those operator...

Many theories of quantum gravity live in higher dimensions, and their reduction to four dimensions via mechanisms such as Kaluza–Klein compactification or brane world models have associated problems. We propose a novel mechanism of dimensional reduction via spontaneous symmetry breaking of a higher dimensional local Lorentz group to one in lower di...

It is well known that perturbative quantum gravity is nonrenormalizable. The metric or vierbein has generally been used as the variable to quantize in perturbative quantum gravity. In this paper, we show that one can use the spin connection instead, in which case it is possible to obtain a ghost-free renormalizable theory of quantum gravity. Furthe...

Many theories of quantum gravity live in higher dimensions, and their reduction to four dimensions via mechanisms such as Kaluza-Klein compactification or brane world models have associated problems. We propose a novel mechanism of dimensional reduction via spontaneous symmetry breaking of a higher dimensional local Lorentz group to one in lower di...

It is well-known that perturbative quantum gravity is non-renormalizable. The metric or vierbein has generally been used as the variable to quantize in perturbative quantum gravity. In this essay, we show that one can use the spin connection instead, in which case it is possible to obtain a ghost-free renormalizable theory of quantum gravity. Furth...

The generalized uncertainty principle and a minimum measurable length arise in various theories of gravity and predict Planck-scale modifications of the canonical position-momentum commutation relation. Postulating a similar modified commutator between the canonical variables of the electromagnetic field in quantum optics, we compute Planck-scale c...

We study a classical bilocal field theory perturbatively up to second-order. The chosen theory is the simplest which incorporates action-at-a-distance, while keeping nonlocal effects short-ranged. We show that the new degrees of freedom introduced by bilocality can be interpreted as gravitational degrees of freedom in the following sense: solutions...

In General Relativity, gravity is universally attractive, a feature embodied by the Raychaudhuri equation which requires that the expansion of a congruence of geodesics is always non-increasing, as long as matter obeys the strong or weak energy conditions. This behavior of geodesics is an important ingredient in general proofs of singularity theore...

The problem of a particle in a box is probably the simplest problem in quantum mechanics which allows for significant insight into the nature of quantum systems and thus is a cornerstone in the teaching of quantum mechanics. In relativistic quantum mechanics this problem allows also to highlight the implications of special relativity for quantum ph...

It is believed that classical behavior emerges in a quantum system due to decoherence. It has also been proposed that gravity can be a source of this decoherence. We examine this in detail by studying a number of quantum systems, including ultra-relativistic and non-relativistic particles, at low and high temperatures in an expanding Universe, and...

The unification of quantum mechanics and gravity remains as one of the primary challenges of present-day physics. Quantum-gravity-inspired phenomenological models offer a window to explore potential aspects of quantum gravity including qualitatively new behavior that can be experimentally tested. One such phenomenological model is the generalized u...

We study a classical bilocal field theory perturbatively up to second order. The chosen theory is the simplest which incorporates action-at-a-distance, while keeping non-local effects short-ranged. We show that the new degrees of freedom introduced by bilocality can be interpreted as gravitational degrees of freedom in the following sense: solution...

The Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) is a modification of Heisenberg's Principle predicted by several theories of Quantum Gravity. It consists of a modified commutator between position and momentum. In this work we compute potentially observable effects that GUP implies for the harmonic oscillator, coherent and squeezed states in Quantum Mec...

The above comment [E. I. Lashin, D. Dou, arXiv:1606.04738] claims that the paper "Quantum Raychaudhuri Equation" by S. Das, Phys. Rev. D89 (2014) 084068 [arXiv:1404.3093] has "problematic points" with regards to its derivation and implications. We show below that the above claim is incorrect, and that there are no problems with results of the above...

The unification of quantum mechanics and gravity remains one of the main challenges in modern physics. Quantum-gravity-inspired phenomenological models offer a window to explore potential aspects of such a theory including observable consequences. One such phenomenological model is the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP), which predicts a modif...

With the aim of investigating the relation between gravity and non-locality at the classical level, we study a bilocal scalar field model. Bilocality introduces new (internal) degrees of freedom that can potentially reproduce gravity. We show that the equations of motion of the massless branch of the free bilocal model match those of linearized gra...

Spacetime and internal symmetries can be used to severely restrict the form of the equations for the fundamental laws of physics. The success of this approach in the context of general relativity and particle physics motivates the conjecture that symmetries may help us to one day uncover the ultimate theory that provides a unique, unified descripti...