Abstract
In the saddle point approximation, the Euclidean path integral for quantum gravity closely resembles a thermodynamic partition function, with the cosmological constant playing the role of temperature and the “density of topologies” acting as an effective density of states. For , the density of topologies grows superexponentially, and the sum over topologies diverges. In thermodynamics, such a divergence can signal the existence of a maximum temperature. The same may be true in quantum gravity: the effective cosmological constant may be driven to zero by a rapid rise in the density of topologies.
- Received 13 August 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.4071
©1997 American Physical Society