Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 30, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Vacuum fluctuations and the small scale structure of spacetime
S Carlip1, R A Mosna, J P M Pitelli
1Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA. carlip@physics.ucdavis.edu
Abstract:
We show that vacuum fluctuations of the stress-energy tensor in two-dimensional dilaton gravity lead to a sharp focusing of light cones near the Planck scale, effectively breaking space up into a large number of causally disconnected regions. This phenomenon, called "asymptotic silence" when it occurs in cosmology, might help explain several puzzling features of quantum gravity, including evidence of spontaneous dimensional reduction at short distances. While our analysis focuses on a simplified two-dimensional model, we argue that the qualitative features should still be present in four dimensions.
Related Concept Videos
Space-Time Curvature and the General Theory of Relativity
This has been verified in many experiments. However, space and time are no longer absolute. Two observers moving relative to one another do not agree on the length of objects or the passage of time. The mechanics of objects based on Newton's laws of motion,...
The Principle of Superposition and the Gravitational Field
Standing Waves in a Cavity
Entropy
Interference and Diffraction
Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape velocity with the...

