Possible Effects of Spacetime Foam in Particle Physics

TL;DR

This paper extends quantum field theory to include spacetime topology fluctuations, predicting increased quantum fluctuations and 1/f noise in electromagnetic fields due to spacetime foam effects.

Contribution

It introduces a variable number of bosonic fields in quantum field theory to model spacetime foam, revealing new ground state properties and observable electromagnetic noise signatures.

Findings

Increased quantum fluctuations in field potentials.

Mass renormalization effects due to spacetime foam.

Prediction of 1/f noise in electromagnetic fields.

Abstract

We present an extension of quantum field theory to the case when the spacetime topology fluctuates (spacetime foam). In this extension the number of bosonic fields becomes a variable and the ground state is characterized by a finite particle number density. It is shown that when the number of fields remains a constant, the standard field theory is restored. However, in the complete theory the ground state has a nontrivial properties. In particular, it produces an increase in the level of quantum fluctuations in the field potentials and an additional renormalization of masses of particles. We examine fluctuations of massless fields and show that in the presence of a temperature (thermal state) these fluctuations has 1/f spectrum. Thus, the main prediction of the theory is that our universe should be filled with a random electromagnetic field which should produce an additional 1/f - noise in electric circuits.