Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime and Its Implications for Cosmology, Blackholes and Quantum Gravity, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Following on from the humongous success of quantum field theory and general relativity (GR), the next big thing that has been puzzling generations of physicists is “quantum field theory in curved spacetime (QFTCS)”. The main objective of QFTCS is to understand how quantum fields behave when gravity is involved and how spacetime fluctuations can be quantum mechanical in nature. This endeavor has uncovered striking questions regarding the well-known problems of unitarity and information loss in the contexts of de Sitter spacetime and Schwarzschild black holes. Although QFTCS has had its successes in predicting CMB correlations through cosmic inflation and Hawking radiation, it has nevertheless remained incomplete due to the lack of S-matrix construction and a unique choice of vacuum, a situation that entails many conceptual conundrums. Several resolutions to the problems of QFTCS have been proposed widely in the literature, especially in the context of various quantum gravity frameworks and effective field theories. We intend to bring together various attempts to quantize gravity and explorations of how this framework portrays quantum field theory in curved spacetime, which dictates our understanding of early-universe cosmology and black hole physics. We also want to display various schemes for the quantization of fields in curved spacetime and investigations into how we can probe them through cosmological and astrophysical observations.

In a nutshell, the aim of this Special Issue is to pin down our understandings of the quantum mechanical nature of spacetime itself at fundamental scales. This Special Issue is dedicated to combining all of these scientific advances, highlighting further open questions on the subject. We welcome review articles as well as new research contributions as part of this Special Issue and we hope this Special Issue will be a significant driving force for further advancements in the field of QFTCS and quantum gravity.

Dr. Korumilli Sravan Kumar
Dr. Joao Marto
Guest Editors

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• quantum field theory in curved spacetime
• quantum gravity
• black holes
• cosmology