L Q G : an Overview

LQG is an attempt to construct a non-perturbative quantization of General Relativity. Rather than treat the quantum gravitational field as a quantum excitation over a fixed classical spacetime geometry, it seeks to construct the quantum mechanics of the gravitational field as a whole without recourse to any classical background spacetime geometry. In this talk I will focus on canonical LQG. I will provide a broad overview of its key structural features and their implications, first through a discussion of its foundations and second, through an application of LQG ideas to physics near the Big Bang.