Abstract
We have entered a golden age of precision cosmology.
Impressive advances in observational techniques have rigorously confirmed our theoretical picture of cosmic history.
We can now reliably describe the state of the universe up to a fraction of a second after the big bang.
This is the point in time at which inflation occurs: a minuscule patch of space undergoes a period of extraordinary expansion. This behaves as a natural amplifier, connecting the world of the very small, determined by the laws of quantum mechanics, with that of the very large, obeying Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
My PhD research has focused on the study of this phenomenon in order to approach one of the greatest challenges in theoretical physics, namely how to unify quantum mechanics with general relativity.
Specifically, I have contributed developing a theoretical scenario which suggests that the entire cosmic evolution is governed by a mysterious attractor mechanism. The specific details of the cosmological model at hand get washed out and the observational predictions all converge towards a single value. Surprisingly, this attractor behaviour seems to be intimately related to essential quantum features of gravity.
This opens up an entirely novel window on the challenging problem of finding an observational test for candidate theories of quantum gravity.
Impressive advances in observational techniques have rigorously confirmed our theoretical picture of cosmic history.
We can now reliably describe the state of the universe up to a fraction of a second after the big bang.
This is the point in time at which inflation occurs: a minuscule patch of space undergoes a period of extraordinary expansion. This behaves as a natural amplifier, connecting the world of the very small, determined by the laws of quantum mechanics, with that of the very large, obeying Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
My PhD research has focused on the study of this phenomenon in order to approach one of the greatest challenges in theoretical physics, namely how to unify quantum mechanics with general relativity.
Specifically, I have contributed developing a theoretical scenario which suggests that the entire cosmic evolution is governed by a mysterious attractor mechanism. The specific details of the cosmological model at hand get washed out and the observational predictions all converge towards a single value. Surprisingly, this attractor behaviour seems to be intimately related to essential quantum features of gravity.
This opens up an entirely novel window on the challenging problem of finding an observational test for candidate theories of quantum gravity.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisors/Advisors |
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| Award date | 13-Jun-2016 |
| Place of Publication | [Groningen] |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 978-90-367-8946-2 |
| Electronic ISBNs | 978-90-367-8945-5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |