Eugenio Bianchi (left) is an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University and Carlo Rovelli (right) is a professor at Aix-Marseille University at the Centre de Physique Theorique de Luminy

Quantum gravity alone is not the only major theoretical open problem in fundamental physics: gravity, quantum theory and thermodynamics form a triple, whose full interconnections we have definitely not yet understood. As soon as quantum effects appear in a curved spacetime, thermal aspects appear to be unavoidable. Combining thermodynamics and (full) gravity might turn out to be even more crucial than understanding the quantum aspects of the gravitational field alone. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that entanglement entropy is a central ingredient for the synthesis we are seeking. Continue reading →