Sakharov's induced gravity: a modern perspective

Abstract

Sakharov's 1967 notion of ``induced gravity'' is currently enjoying a significant resurgence. The basic idea, originally presented in a very brief 3-page paper with a total of 4 formulas, is that gravity is not ``fundamental'' in the sense of particle physics. Instead it was argued that gravity (general relativity) emerges from quantum field theory in roughly the same sense that hydrodynamics or continuum elasticity theory emerges from molecular physics. In this article I will translate the key ideas into modern language, and explain the various versions of Sakharov's idea currently on the market.

mpla.sty; 17 pages. Contribution to the ``First IUCAA Meeting on the Interface of Gravitational and Quantum Realms'', held in Pune in December 2001. To appear in Modern Physics Letters A