The Necessity of Quantizing Gravity

Abstract

The Eppley Hannah thought experiment is often cited as justification for attempts by theorists to develop a complete, consistent theory of quantum gravity. A modification of the earlier "Heisenberg microscope" argument for the necessity of quantized light, the Eppley-Hannah thought experiment purports to show that purely classical gravitational waves would either not conserve energy or else allow for violations of the uncertainty principle. However, several subsequent papers have cast doubt as to the validity of the Eppley-Hannah argument. In this paper, we attempt to resurrect the Eppley-Hannah thought experiment by modifying the original argument in such a manner as to render it immune to the present criticisms levied against it.