The Quantum Hall Effect for Gravity

I will discuss the Hall effect and the importance of topology for the quantization of the Hall conductance. Then, I will talk about expected properties of topological theta vacua and how they can be implemented in the Wheeler-DeWitt approach to quantum gravity in the presence of a cosmological constant. I will show that consistency of those properties with the gravitational Hamiltonian constraint implies that the cosmological constant is related to a gravitational theta angle. I will also explain how the physics of the Hamiltonian constraint is analogous to the quantum Hall effect, with the cosmological constant playing the role of a quantum gravitational Hall resistivity.

: I'm a theoretical physicist working on theoretical cosmology and high-energy physics. My research has encompassed quantum gravity, early and late-time cosmology, string theory, condensed matter, and fundamental aspects of quantum fields and physics in curved spacetimes. Some of my current interests include applying quantum gravity ideas to cosmology, the intersection of condensed matter and dark matter models, gravitational parity violation, and formal aspects of quantum gravity.