Undergrad Is quantum gravity still an immensely popular field?

[MacMac]

I was just wondering how much work is being done in the field of quantum gravity nowdays. Is there still a huge volume of research published on the topic? Are we closer to a "solution" nowdays than we were a few years ago? And also, what exactly would constitute a solution to such problem?

 

[Demystifier]

1. Is there still a huge volume of research published on the topic?
2. Are we closer to a "solution" nowdays than we were a few years ago?
3. And also, what exactly would constitute a solution to such problem?

1. Yes.
2. Probably not much.
3. Like many other things in real life, it's hard to define in advance, but when we see it we will recognize it.

 

[jtbell]

when we see it we will recognize it.

Maybe it will predict the value 42 from first principles.

 

[thidmir]

Hell yes. It is a major problem that has to be solved, otherwise there are gaps in our model of Nature where quantum effects play a role when strong gravitational fields are present. Honestly though, with conventional approaches to quantum gravity like string theory and loop quantum gravity we aren't really much closer to a solution. Part of the problem is that there is a very formal procedure for quantizing fields I think due to Dirac that just doesn't seem to work with gravity although it works with QED when you make use of renormalization, but how to get around that isn't clear.