This is a question that has been on the mind of many scientists and astronomers for a long time. For years they have worked at trying to quantize gravity but failed miserably. Is this because gravity itself isn’t a fundamental force at all and that’s why previous attempts to quantize it have failed? One paper by Erik Verlinde entitled Emergent Gravity seeks to answer this and more.
There are four fundamental forces: electromagnetism, the weak and strong nuclear forces, and gravitation. Many physicists believe there is a framework that connects all four of these forces together. But, another theory is that General Relativity, which includes gravity, is emergent rather than fundamental. Verlinde’s paper focuses on showing the link between quantum information theory and the emergence of space, time, and gravity.
The idea is that there are two quantum units entangled with each other and when a matter particle also joins the mix it has the capacity to interact with them. Verlinde’s paper also goes on to discuss how a full theory of gravity gives four dimensions of time and uses a positive cosmological constant to incorporate dark energy. But, there are some problems with this theory. The biggest is that it’s largely based on anti-de Sitter space which is a negative cosmological constant. But, our universe is known to have de Sitter space which is positive cosmological constant. Because these two spaces have two very different sets of properties, the same method or theory would not work on both without the need for some adaptation.
Also, in Verlinde’s model it shows that gravitational mass emerges, but where is the inertial mass that Einstein’s equivalence principle is based upon? His work is also largely assuming that the expansion rate is the same today as it has always been, but this isn’t correct. The Universe’s expansion rate has changed incredibly over time. So, there are many issues with this theory that just don’t add up and seem to be in conflict with the proven laws of physics. But, that’s not to say that it can’t be adapted and proven to be right. After all, who knows what the future may hold?
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