Related papers: Volumes of Space as Subsystems
Volume operators measuring the total volume of space in a loop quantum theory of cosmological models are constructed. In the case of models with rotational symmetry an investigation of the Higgs constraint imposed on the reduced connection…
We propose an approach which, by combining insights from Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), Topos theory, Non-commutative Geometry \`a la Connes, and spacetime relationalism, provides fertile ground for the search of an adequate spacetime picture…
We analyze the phase space of gravity non-minimally coupled to a scalar field in a generic local Lorentz frame. We reduce the set of constraints to a first-class one by fixing a specific hypersurfaces in the phase space. The main issue of…
The search for a quantum theory of gravity is one of the major challenges facing theoretical physics today. While no complete theory exists, a promising avenue of research is the loop quantum gravity approach. In this approach, quantum…
We motivate and construct a mathematical theory for the separation of space and time in general relativity. The formalism only requires a single observer and an optional choice of reference frame at each instant. As the splitting is done…
In a metric variable based Hamiltonian quantization, we give a prescription for constructing semiclassical matter-geometry states for homogeneous and isotropic cosmological models. These "collective" states arise as infinite linear…
We investigate the relationship between nonlocal and local quantum field theories, and search for a viable notion of "local limit" to relate the unitary models. In Euclidean space it is relatively easy to have nonlocal theories with…
We start from quantum theory (instead of general relativity) to approach quantum gravity within a minimal setting and promote the space-time coordinates to quantum non-commuting operators. Comparison to the harmonic oscillator global phase…
Recently, motivated by certain loop quantum gravity inspired corrections, it was shown that for spherically symmetric midisuperspace models infinitely many second derivative theories of gravity exist (as revealed by the presence of three…
Polymer quantization is a non-standard representation of the quantum mechanics that inspired by loop quantum gravity. To study the associated statistical mechanics, one needs to find microstates' energies which are eigenvalues of the…
Recent developments in gravitational path integrals indicate that the nonperturbative physical Hilbert space of a closed universe is one-dimensional within each superselection sector. This raises a basic puzzle: how can a unique…
The main topics of this second part of a two-part essay are some consequences of the phenomenon of vacuum polarization as the most important physical manifestation of modular localization. Besides philosophically unexpected consequences, it…
An algebraic characterization of vacuum states in Minkowski space is given which relies on recently proposed conditions of geometric modular action and modular stability for algebras of observables associated with wedge-shaped regions. In…
We propose quantum-mechanical systems in which the number of spatial dimensions is promoted to a dynamical quantum variable, making the effective dimension state-dependent. Interestingly, systems of this form can exhibit enhanced symmetries…
We construct normalizable, semi-classical states for the previously proposed model of quantum gravity which is formulated as a spectral triple over holonomy loops. The semi-classical limit of the spectral triple gives the Dirac Hamiltonian…
We consider the quantum state seen by an observer in the diamond-shaped region, which is a globally hyperbolic open submanifold of the Minkowski space-time. It is known from the operator-algebraic argument that the vacuum state of the…
We consider quantum algebras of observables associated with subregions in theories of Einstein gravity coupled to matter in the $G_N\rightarrow 0$ limit. When the subregion is spatially compact or encompasses an asymptotic boundary, we…
We discuss questions pertaining to the definition of `momentum', `momentum space', `phase space', and `Wigner distributions'; for finite dimensional quantum systems. For such systems, where traditional concepts of `momenta' established for…
It is often assumed that the area law of micro-state entropy and the holography are intrinsic properties exclusively of the gravitational systems, such as black holes. We construct a non-gravitational model that exhibits an entropy that…
We describe a midi-superspace quantization scheme for generic single horizon black holes in which only the spatial diffeomorphisms are fixed. The remaining Hamiltonian constraint yields an infinite set of decoupled eigenvalue equations: one…