Spacetime foam: a review
Steven Carlip
Abstract
More than 65 years ago, John Wheeler suggested that quantum uncertainties of the metric would be of order one at the Planck scale, leading to large fluctuations in spacetime geometry and topology, which he termed 'spacetime foam.' In this review I discuss various attempts to implement this idea and to test it, both theoretically and, to a lesser extent, observationally.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsSpacetimeMetric (unit)Spacetime topologyPlanck scaleTheoretical physicsQuantum field theory in curved spacetimePlanck lengthQuantum spacetimePlanckQuantumScale (ratio)Quantum fluctuationClassical mechanicsQuantum gravityQuantum mechanicsEconomicsOperations managementNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity TheoriesCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesAdvanced Mathematical Theories and Applications