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On the Brout–Englert–Higgs–Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble Mechanism in Quantum Gravity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2018

Gerard ‘t Hooft*
Affiliation:
Institute for Subatomic Physics, Centre for Extreme Matter and Emergent Phenomena (EMMEΦ), Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, the Netherlands. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Local gauge invariance can materialise in different ways in theories for quantised elementary particles. It is less well-known, however, that a quite similar situation also occurs in the Einstein–Hilbert formalism for the gravitational forces. This may have important consequences for quantum theory. At first sight one may even think that it renders gravity renormalisable, just as happens in local gauge theories, but in gravity the truth is more puzzling.

Type
Tribute to Thomas W.B. Kibble
Copyright
© Academia Europæa 2018 

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