Quantum geometry

Article summary

In quantum gravity, quantum geometry is the set of mathematical concepts that generalize geometry to describe physical phenomena at distance scales comparable to the Planck length. Each theory of quantum gravity uses the term "quantum geometry" in a slightly different fashion. String theory uses quantum geometry to describe exotic phenomena such as T-duality and other geometric dualities, mirror symmetry, topology-changing transitions, minimal possible distance scale, and other effects that challenge intuition. Generally, string theory is initially explored on a compact six-dimensional manifold to restrict the algebraic data needed for computation. By utilizing compactifications, string theory describes geometric states, where a compactification is a spacetime that looks four-dimensional macroscopically even if its actual dimension is higher. One goal in exploring string compactifications is to find vacuum solutions where the space is maximally symmetric. When computing these vacuum solutions, preserving supersymmetry gives a first-order system of equations which can partially give the second-order equations of motion. This supersymmetry enables the use of differential geometry methods by using transition functions. Because the six-dimensional manifold cannot be covered with a single coordinate system, transition functions are grouped together into different G-structures.…

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