Quantum Gravity and the Big Bang

Introduction to our current understanding of the history of the universe, and explain why quantum gravity effects are expected to be important in the very early universe. I will then present some of the main results of loop quantum cosmology, an approach that has been developed to study quantum gravity effects in the early universe. One key prediction is that the big-bang singularity, predicted by general relativity, is removed by quantum gravity effects and is replaced by a non-singular bounce that was preceded by a contracting phase. I will end by briefly discussing what future observations could potentially test loop quantum cosmology and its predictions.

Edward Wilson-Ewing is an assistant professor at the University of New Brunswick. After obtaining a BSc from Bishop's University, he completed his PhD at the Pennsylvania State University (under Abhay Ashtekar) , and held postdoctoral positions at Aix-Marseille Université (with Carlo Rovelli) , the Louisiana State University and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics. His research interests lie in the fields of quantum gravity and cosmology. He has written over 30 scientific papers on these topics, and was awarded the Matvei Petrovich Bronstein Prize in 2015 in recognition of his contributions to research in loop quantum gravity and cosmology.