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Quantum gravity

An astrophysical constraint

Nature volume 424, pages 1007–1008 (2003)Cite this article

A quantum theory of gravity is proving elusive. Observations of radiation from the Crab nebula now place even stronger constraints on the likelihood of detecting the effects of quantum gravity.

For decades, physicists have been in search of quantum gravity, a theory that would encompass both general relativity and quantum mechanics. One of the difficulties in this quest is the paucity of detailed experimental data; direct effects of quantum gravity are generally thought to be out of reach of foreseeable experiments. But, if we are lucky, the effects of quantum gravity might cause small violations of spacetime symmetries, violations that could be directly observed through the behaviour of particles at high energies or over large distances. A new astrophysical test — reported by Jacobson et al.1 on page 1019 of this issue — suggests, however, that we might not get lucky.

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Figure 1: The Crab nebula. Located in the constellation of Taurus, this cloud of gas is all that remains of a star whose explosion in ad 1054 was recorded by Chinese astronomers.

NASA/CXC/HST/ASU/J. HESTER ET AL.

References

  1. Jacobson, T., Liberati, S. & Mattingly, D. Nature 424, 1019–1021 (2003).

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  2. Amelino-Camelia, G., Ellis, J., Mavromatos, N. E., Nanopoulos, D. V. & Sarkar, S. Nature 393, 763–765 (1998).

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  3. Myers, R. C. & Pospelov, M. Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 211601 (2003).

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  1. Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, 60637, Illinois, USA

    Sean Carroll

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  1. Sean Carroll
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Correspondence to Sean Carroll.

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Carroll, S. An astrophysical constraint. Nature 424, 1007–1008 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/4241007a

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