News

Professor Ginestra Bianconi, Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Centre for Complex Systems, has been awarded a three-year, £323,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to develop Gravity from Entropy. This new theoretical framework seeks to uncover the microscopic nature of gravity and bridge the long-standing divide between general relativity and quantum mechanics.

Gravity from Entropy, recently introduced by Professor Bianconi in Physical Review D, proposes a fundamentally new view of gravity emerging from principles of statistical mechanics and information theory. At its core is a novel action based on the geometric quantum relative entropy between the physical spacetime metric and the metric induced by matter and curvature, providing a microscopic statistical foundation for gravitational dynamics.

The new project will further develop this framework through three interconnected research objectives. The first is to investigate the cosmological implications of Gravity from Entropy by exploring how its modified gravitational equations affect the evolution of the Universe, cosmic acceleration and the possible resolution of cosmological singularities. The second is to extend the theory to include Dirac fields, enabling Gravity from Entropy to describe the spin-½ particles that make up ordinary matter. The final objective is to formulate the theory in a second quantization, laying the mathematical foundations for a fully quantum description of gravity.

By bringing together general relativity, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and information theory within a single mathematical framework, the project addresses one of the most fundamental open questions in physics. Along the way, it is expected to generate new mathematical methods for understanding quantum geometry and spacetime while providing new avenues for theoretical and experimental tests of gravity.

Professor Ginestra Bianconi said: "Understanding the microscopic origin of gravity remains one of the greatest challenges in fundamental physics. This project will explore whether gravity can be understood as an emergent phenomenon rooted in information theory and statistical mechanics, opening a new route towards a quantum theory of gravity."