Loop Quantum Gravity for Everyone

by Rodolfo Gambini, Jorge Pullin

"In this remarkably well-written text, the authors introduce readers gently to the conceptual bricks of LQG without using any mathematics (quite an achievement). The debate started with the discovery that the space-time geometry of general relativity can be written in terms of the electromagnetic field. This led to intersecting graphs called loops. Now known as spin networks, they are the foundations of LQG. This slender volume discusses applications of LQG to black holes and cosmology and introduces the notion of spin foam, acknowledging that as yet the theory, though elegant, has no experimental confirmation … This book offers a fascinating introduction to an esoteric realm otherwise accessible to only a fortunate few.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and faculty researchers."
CHOICE

Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2020
Loop quantum gravity is one of the main contenders to unify Einstein's general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, therefore providing a quantum theory of gravity. If these words do not mean much to you, do not worry, we will define them in simple terms.
This book describes loop quantum gravity and its applications to cosmology, black holes and spin foams without using formulas. It is concise and has a light style that makes for easy reading yet covering many of the cutting-edge developments in the field. It also addresses some of the controversies that surround these topics as they are incomplete science.

Genres: Science, Physics, Popular Science

104 pages, Hardcover

Published January 8, 2020

Reviews

[Mahin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the title says this book is for everyone, it certainly is not. To be honest I am still not sure who are intended readers of this book. This is an extremely terse book that tries to offer a very basic outline of Loop Quantum Gravity and its goal. If its readers are supposed to be the lay public then I have to say it has failed with its motive. Two of the characteristics of 'Books for Laypeople' are analogy and picture. It lacks both. It uses a lot of technical terms without explanation and analogy as if the readers are already familiar with these terms. First two or three chapters are a little better though.

I don’t recommend this to anyone interested in getting a picture of Loop Quantum Gravity(LQG). I believe there are certainly some better non technical books, especially I am looking forward to start Quantum Space: Loop Quantum Gravity and the Search for the Structure of Space, Time, and the Universe by Jim Baggott soon.

The authors of this book do work in LQG and they have a technical book for undergraduates named A First Course in Loop Quantum Gravity. I have some plan to go through the book but before that I have to learn some advanced Mathematics

[·naysayer· · Rating 3 out of 5]

🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Definitely not for everyone. It'll take more than a smattering of math, science, and possibly history, to unravel the mysteries of this book. Divided into mercifully short chapters packed with physicksy buzzwords, it nevertheless inspires to investigate further. Blatantly written by foreign language speakers (it takes one to know one!), it regrettably hasn't been edited to purge the linguistic idiosyncrasies. Styled in the familiar LaTeX aesthetic, it retains all the flavor of self-published course notes.

After bringing the reader up to speed on the prior physics and the unification problem, it describes LQG and some of its consequences (e.g., LQG favors a Big Bounce over a Big Bang, and provides an alternative to the traditional inflation hypothesis). It mentions some possible avenues for probing the granularity of space-time, and finishes off by addressing a couple points of criticism, loftily extracted from all the "prejudices" of those who "are not very well informed and jump to conclusions".

As it turns out, the fluctuations across the cosmic microwave background map only appear random. This apparent randomness belies a remarkable structure, on which the quantum gravity model might leave an imprint. More accurate measurements of large-distance correlations in CMB anisotropies are required.

❝general relativity has a symmetry that the other theories do not have. Because it is a theory of geometry itself, until one solves it, that is, until one has a given geometry, the points of spacetime are all equivalent to each other and can be moved around freely. To give an analogy, consider that you are in the middle of the ocean far from the coast in a cloudy night. You cannot tell where your boat is. All points of the ocean are equivalent. You can move your boat around and everything will look the same. In that context “placing a geometry” would be being able to see the coast. Then the points of the ocean are not equivalent anymore, some are closer to the coast than others and you would notice if you move your boat around.❞

❝This book grew out of an EdX.org course one of us taught (the course is in Spanish with English subtitles).❞

❝If this book has piqued your curiosity for more detail, we also have a book at the undergraduate level that assumes little knowledge of physics, but the learning curve in it is steep!❞

[ExtraGravy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Subpar overview. Writing is not great and content is not great. There are better options out there.

[Remo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé si alguna vez he dicho (es posible que alguna sí) que a mí la física del tiempo (y, consecuentemente, la del espacio) me apasiona. Los autores de este libro son especialistas en quantum loop gravity (QLG, gravedad cuántica de bucles -o lazos, como la llaman los autores, uruguasho y argentino) y han hecho contribuciones notables a esta disciplina.
Y, sin embargo, el libro no me transmite nada. Mucho de "esto es complejo pero es como si..." y luego nada, ningún ejemplo que aclare las cosas, que dé ideas, analogías, metáforas. Me he quedado bastante desilusionado por la poca capacidad de los autores, que como físicos son sobresalientes, para transmitir estos conceptos simplificados. Una lástima. Me he quedado con ganas. Dos estrellas y media que redondeo a tres. Mi autor favorito en esta disciplina sigue siendo Rovelli.

[Raymond Lam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short one hundred page book that introduces Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) without using the mathematics involved.  After two brief chapters on general relatvity and quantum mechanics, writers went straight to introduce the notion of spin networks penetrating surfaces to exhibit quantum states for developing a theory of quantum gravity. The authors devote the next two  chapters on the applications of LQG. One application is using the spin network to study the relation between the entropy and the area of the event horizon of a black hole. The other application is  Loop Quantum Cosmology that provides its own bouncing model of the Big Bang inflation. There is also a clear chapter on the path integral approach of spin foam by Rovelli. 
If you need a small booklet on LQG for student to read before you begin your course on LQG, this book would be a good intro

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como dicen en la contraportada es una aproximación, tan aproximada que si queremos saber más detalles tendremos que buscar en otro libro.

https://liblit.com/rodolfo-gambini-y-...

[Guillermo García Rojas C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un excelente libro para iniciarse en la Gravedad Cuántica de Lazos y para todo público. Muy recomendable.

[Unai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy sencillo y accesible a todo el mundo pero establece unas buenas (pero muy escasas) bases de esta teoría

[JOAN BASSETS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una bona introducció a la teoria de llaços, ben escrita i accessible. Acabes volent-ne saber més, però sabent que la complicació és gran i és difícil, per al que no és físic, avançar més enllà.

[Mmonchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro será para todos, pero no es para que todos se enteren. Faltan explicaciones y tratar de hacer las cosas fáciles. Es muy breve y no da tiempo nada más que para dar pinceladas superficiales.
Sabe a poco.