Please join us (virtually) on Feb 17, at 10:15ET for Francesca Vidotto, speaking on “Quantum Gravity in Practice”. Full details and registration at https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/cosmology-beyond-spacetime/.

Abstract: I present a recent concrete calculation in Spinfoam Cosmology -the application of the covariant LQG techniques to the cosmos- as an example to discuss a number of conceptual issues that are at the core of quantum gravity and cosmology. These include: What are the observables when localization does not rely on background space and time? What are the degrees of freedom? What is the role of quantum fluctuations of spacetime? What’s the interplay between the Planck scale and the cosmological scale? How should we think about time in this picture?