Fundamental Quantum Structure of Spacetime
Abstract:
In these lectures, I will motivate the search for a model of quantum gravity and will then explain how perturbative quantum gravity works and what its predictions are. I will then discuss how and why perturbative quantum gravity ultimately breaks down and requires an ultraviolet completion. I will then introduce the concept of asymptotic safety as a paradigm that might accommodate a predictive, ultraviolet complete model of quantum spacetime. I will review the theoretical hints that exist for the viability of asymptotic safety in gravity. Finally, I will bridge the gap to phenomenology and will discuss potential imprints of asymptotically safe quantum gravity in black holes and cosmology as well as the possibility for a quantum-gravity induced ultraviolet completion of the standard model of particle physics.