by Frederic P. Schuller (Albert Einstein Institute)

Europe/Stockholm
FA31

FA31

Description
All we know about the structure of physical spacetime, we ultimately infer from the behaviour of matter inhabiting it. Restricting attention to classical matter, Einstein showed in this fashion how the properties of electromagnetic fields reveal an underlying metric structure of spacetime. General relativity then builds on taking the Lorentzian metric seriously as a dynamical object in its own right, providing a phenomenally successful theory of gravity. But all matter is quantum, and in this talk I will show how this leads to the emergence of a refined `area metric' geometry. Gravitational dynamics for four-dimensional area metric manifolds then provide a theory of spacetime and matter, which surprisingly addresses the observed late-time accelerated expan- sion of the universe without a need for dark energy. The emergence of an area metric spacetime structure has further remarkable consequences for singularity theory and our understanding of physics in strong gravitational fields.