Cosmology

The causal set theory is an attempt to reconcile general relativity with quantum theory, which is called the theory of quantum gravity. It assumes that the fundamental reality is not a smooth manifold but is rather a discrete structure called a causal set. Although a complete quantum version of the causal set idea is still lacking, researchers have been able to point out some important implications of the fundamental discreteness assumed in the causal set theory about various puzzles in physics. Dr. Maqbool Ahmed concentrates on the cosmological implications of the causal set idea and, in collaboration with others, has proposed a verifiable model of dark energy, arguably the most important problem in all of cosmology. He has also proposed a model of the early universe that derives life from the fundamental discreteness and sheds light on many of the problems of the early universe as seen from the causal set point of view. He is interested in exploring the implications of these models further and is working to see how well they match with observational data.