Gravity and Radiation: News from the Boundary

Researchers at the Centre de Physique Théorique propose a theoretical framework that provides a description of gravity and gravitational waves at the “boundary” of spacetime.

In a Letter recently published in Physical Review Letters [1], a team of researchers led by Marios Petropoulos (CNRS Research Director, CPHT), and comprising Adrien Fiorucci, Simon Pekar and Matthieu Vilatte (current or former members of CPHT), put forward a derivation of the dynamical equations of Einstein gravity that is intrinsically defined on the boundary, within the framework of flat-space holography. This approach is based on Carrollian geometry and represents the culmination of methods developed over many years at CPHT, where a world-recognised expertise in this field exists. This theoretical advance opens up new perspectives towards the unification of general relativity and quantum mechanics.

[1] Adrien Fiorucci, Simon Pekar, P. Marios Petropoulos and Matthieu Vilatte, Carrollian-Holographic Derivation of Gravitational Flux-Balance Laws, Phys.Rev.Lett. 135, 261602, https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/qv17-ks32

École polytechnique’s press release [in French]

Image : Artist’s impression of a holographically emerging spacetime Credit : A. Fiorucci.