Edit: An alternate angle on the original question I asked below: Would general relativity still create singularities in special cases (center of black holes) if we assumed that gravity had a lower range boundary, below which gravity did not operate? Maybe another way to ask this is: What if spacetime was not curved in any way below the scale at which quantum effects begin to become a factor; would there be any need to quantize gravity? Maybe another, another way to ask this (not sure if this one even makes sense, but I'm trying to give the idea of what I'm asking): What if the quantum of spacetime was set to be whatever dimension at which quantum effects begin to become a factor (that is, quantum effects only act within a single quantum of spacetime, meaning there's no overlap between gravity and quantum effects)?
Just to reiterate (if it wasn't already apparent), I'm only a hobby physicist. My original question was flagged as a duplicate. While the linked question definitely contains a lot of relevant information, from what I can tell my more specific question wasn't addressed there. (I also didn't fully understand everything said there, so I could be wrong...)
Original question:
[For brief context, I'm a physicist in hobby only. Took the entry-level courses in college, but don't know any of the more complex math. I'm more familiar with many of the general concepts (what you'd read in Stephen Hawking's books).
Question: As I understand it, normally at the quantum scale gravity is too weak to be a factor. But with massive concentrations of matter (black holes), with so much mass there comes a point at which quantum effects from gravity should dominate (and that's why we're looking for a theory of quantum gravity). Gravity has an infinite range, but I'm wondering what the reasoning is as to why there can't be a lower range as well, a range below which gravity doesn't operate. I'm imagining a reverse sort of situation to the strong force, which has an upper range beyond which the strong force doesn't operate - that analogy with the snapping rubber band (force grows stronger with distance but only up to a certain point, then snaps). Could there be a lower bound that prevents gravity from affecting the smallest scales at all? And if not, I'm curious to hear what the explanation is as to why, if it's possible to do so in lay terms.
This article touches on some of what I'm asking about (I think) but some further discussion would be interesting (I hope): https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-find-a-way-to-see-the-grin-of-quantum-gravity-20180306/
Also goes without saying, if I'm laughably incorrect about any of this, please feel free to clarify.
Thank you!]
