A key incentive of quantum gravity is the removal of spacetime singularities plaguing the classical theory. We compute the nonperturbative momentum dependence of a specific structure function within the gravitational asymptotic safety program which encodes the quantum corrections to the graviton propagator for momenta above the Planck scale. The resulting quantum-corrected Newtonian potential approaches a constant negative value as the distance between the two point masses goes to zero, thereby removing the classical singularity. The generic nature of the underlying mechanism suggests that it will remain operative in the context of black hole and cosmic singularities.

• Received 19 April 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.101301

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Published by the American Physical Society