Quotes About Loop theory

What are the elementary "atoms" that vibrate, making a black hole hot? Hawking left this problem unanswered. Loop theory provides a possible answer. The elementary "atoms" of a black hole that vibrate, responsible for its temperature, are the individual quanta of space on its surface.

Loop theory describes this atomic and granular quantum structure of space in a precise mathematical form. It is obtained by applying the general equations of quantum mechanics written by Dirac to Einstein's gravitational field. In particular, loop theory specifies that volume (for example the volume of a given cube) cannot be arbitrarily small. A minimum volume exists. No space smaller than this minimum volume exists. There is a minimum "quantum" of volume: an elementary atom of space.