Theory and Phenomenology of Space-Time Defects

Abstract

Whether or not space-time is fundamentally discrete is of central importance for the development of the theory of quantum gravity. If the fundamental description of spacetime is discrete, typically represented in terms of a graph or network, then the apparent smoothness of geometry on large scales should be imperfect—it should have defects. Here, we review a model for space-time defects and summarize the constraints on the prevalence of these defects that can be derived from observation.