Nonlocal Quantum Gravity in Particle Physics, Black Holes, and Cosmology

Abstract

In the quantum field theory framework, “Nonlocal Quantum Gravity”' (with or without matter) turns out to be a consistent candidate for all fundamental interactions compatible with linear and nonlinear classical stability, perturbative unitarity, causality, and quantum finiteness. In particular, the latter property implies that the theory is Weyl invariant at classical as well at quantum level. Therefore, nonlocal quantum gravity is a conformal invariant theory in the spontaneously broken phase of the Weyl symmetry.

In the first part of the presentation, the speaker will review the theory and its main properties, while the second part I will focus on some implications, namely: (i) singularity free black holes, (ii) resolution of the information loss problem, (iii) a new scenario for the early Universe in nonlocal conformal quantum gravity as an alternative to Inflation, and (iv) a geometric origin of the galactic rotation curves based on conformal invariance as an alternative to dark matter.

About the Speaker

Prof. Leonardo MODESTO (L.M.) is currently “Tenured Associate Professor” at the Department of Physics of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, where he teaches general relativity and quantum field theory. He studied at Pisa, where he got the Master degree, followed by Turin, where he completed the PhD program. Afterwards, he carried out scientific research in Marseille, Bologna, and Waterloo (Canada) at the renowned “Perimeter institute for theoretical physics”. Finally, he moved to Fudan University in Shanghai as an Associate Professor.

Prof. Modesto was qualified as “Full Professor” in “theoretical physics of the fundamental interactions” in Italy in 2014, and very recently (April 2023), has been honored by the prestigious “direct call for clear fame and scientific merits” from the Ministry of Scientific Research and the Italian University to return to Italy as a Professor at the University of Cagliari.

Prof. Modesto has published 94 papers for a total number of citations of about 6,500 including two “famous papers”, one with about 480 and another with about 300 citations (from inspire), 15 “very well-known papers” with more than 100 citations (from inspire), 25 “well-known papers” with more than 50 citations (from inspire). He is a co-author of the book Nonlocal Quantum Gravity by Cambridge University Press with G. Calcagni, which will be published soon. He is also an editor of the Handbook of Quantum Gravity together with Prof. Cosimo BAMBI and Prof. Ilya SHAPIRO, by Springer 2023.

He has been included in the “Stanford University Names World's Top 2 % Scientists” in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

Prof. Modesto has made a decisive contribution on several topics in theoretical physics: the development of “loop quantum gravity”, to the study of space-time singularities and on the related information loss problem in black holes, but above all L.M. proposed a theory of quantum gravity finite in the quantum field theory framework.

At the moment Prof. Modesto is still working on quantum gravity coupled to matter, the singularity problem and the black holes’ unitary evolution, the physics of the early Universe, a unified theory of all fundamental interactions, the dark matter and the dark energy problem.
 

About the Program

For more information, please refer to the program website at http://iasprogram.ust.hk/particle_theory.

For Attendees' Attention

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