Related papers: Dynamical locality and covariance: What makes a ph…
Brunetti, Fredenhagen and Verch (BFV) have shown how the notion of local covariance for quantum field theories can be formulated in terms of category theory: a theory being described as a functor from a category of spacetimes to a category…
The framework of locally covariant quantum field theory is discussed, motivated in part using "ignorance principles". It is shown how theories can be represented by suitable functors, so that physical equivalence of theories may be…
Dynamical locality is a condition on a locally covariant physical theory, asserting that kinematic and dynamical notions of local physics agree. This condition was introduced in [arXiv:1106.4785], where it was shown to be closely related to…
A new approach to the model-independent description of quantum field theories will be introduced in the present work. The main feature of this new approach is to incorporate in a local sense the principle of general covariance of general…
The split property expresses the way in which local regions of spacetime define subsystems of a quantum field theory. It is known to hold for general theories in Minkowski space under the hypothesis of nuclearity. Here, the split property…
A model-independent, locally generally covariant formulation of quantum field theory over four-dimensional, globally hyperbolic spacetimes will be given which generalizes similar, previous approaches. Here, a generally covariant quantum…
The theory of quantum states over time provides an approach to the dynamics of quantum information which is in direct analogy with spacetime and its relation to classical dynamics. In this work, we further such an analogy by formulating a…
In it's usual presentation, classical mechanics appears to give time a very special role. But it is well known that mechanics can be formulated so as to treat the time variable on the same footing as the other variables in the extended…
Space-time is one of the most essential, yet most mysterious concepts in physics. In quantum mechanics it is common to understand time as a marker of instances of evolution and define states around all the space but at one time; while in…
This paper considers the problem of consistently defining subsystems in gravitational theories. It is argued that a subsystem is a spacetime subregion in which the observables form a closed Poisson algebra. In a generally covariant theory,…
This article sets out the framework of algebraic quantum field theory in curved spacetimes, based on the idea of local covariance. In this framework, a quantum field theory is modelled by a functor from a category of spacetimes to a…
We introduce the concept of parity symmetry in restricted spatial domains -- local parity -- and explore its impact on the stationary transport properties of generic, one-dimensional aperiodic potentials of compact support. It is shown…
Classical dynamical laws are conventionally formulated as closed evolution equations defined on fixed geometric backgrounds and a global time parameter. We develop a formulation in which neither prescribed evolution laws nor an external…
Shape dynamics is a completely background-independent universal framework of dynamical theories from which all absolute elements have been eliminated. For particles, only the variables that describe the shapes of the instantaneous particle…
After reviewing the hole argument and its relations with initial value problem and general covariance, we shall discuss how much freedom one has to define the physical state of a system in a generally covariant (or gauge covariant) field…
Based on the principle of relativity, we find that the sufficient and necessary condition for the general covariance of a field theory actually requires more than the invariance of its local Langrangian density. If the spacetime is not a…
This Thesis presents some physically motivated criteria for the existence of particles and infra-particles in a given quantum field theory. It is based on a refined spectral theory of automorphism groups describing the energy-momentum…
This is a summary of two lectures I gave at the Davis Conference on Cosmic Inflation. I explain why the quantum theory of de Sitter (dS) space should have a finite number of states and explore gross aspects of the hypothetical quantum…
The foundation of continuum elasticity theory is based on two general principles: (i) the force felt by a small volume element from its surrounding acts only through its surface (the Cauchy principle, justified by the fact that interactions…
This work reveals a fundamental link between general covariance and Birkhoff's theorem. We extend Birkhoff's theorem from general relativity to a broad class of generally covariant gravity theories formulated in the Hamiltonian framework.…