The world crystal is a theoretical model in cosmology which provides an alternative understanding of gravity.
Theoretical models of the universe are valid only at large distances. The properties of spacetime at ultrashort distances of the order of the Planck length are completely unknown since they have not been explored by any experiment. At present there are various approaches which try to predict what happens at these distances: Quantum Gravity.
The World Crystal model is an alternative which exploits the fact that crystals with defects have the same non-Euclidean geometry as spaces with curvature and torsion. Thus the world crystal represents a model for Emergent or Induced Gravity in an Einstein–Cartan theory of gravitation (which embraces Einstein's theory of General Relativity). The model illustrates that the world may have, at Planck distances, quite different properties from those predicted by string theorists. In this model, matter creates defects in spacetime which generate curvature and all the effects of general relativity. More studies of the World Crystal are here.
The existence of a shortest length at the Planck level has interesting consequences for quantum physics at at ultrahigh energies. For example, the uncertainty relation will be modified as discussed in. The World Crystal implies specific modifications whose consequences are investigated here.
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—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)