Towards a quantum theory of de Sitter space

Abstract

We describe progress towards constructing a quantum theory of de Sitter space in four dimensions. In particular we indicate how both particle states and Schwarzschild de Sitter black holes can arise as excitations in a theory of a finite number of fermionic oscillators. The results about particle states depend on a conjecture about algebras of Grassmann variables, which we state, but do not prove. © SISSA 2006.