Theory and Phenomenology of Spacetime Defects

Abstract

Whether or not space-time is fundamentally discrete is of central importance for the development of the theory of quantum gravity. If the fundamental description of space-time is discrete, typically represented in terms of a graph or network, then the apparent smoothness of geometry on large scales should be imperfect -- it should have defects. Here, we review a model for space-time defects and summarize the constraints on the prevalence of these defects that can be derived from observation.

Comments: Summary of arXiv:1309.0311 and arXiv:1309.0314. Prepared for the AHEP Special Issue on "Experimental Tests of Quantum Gravity and Exotic Quantum Field Theory Effects"