Related papers: Universality of geometry
Every spacetime is defined by its metric, the mathematical object which further defines the spacetime curvature. From the relativity principle, we have the freedom to choose which coordinate system to write our metric in. Some coordinate…
We describe a class of modified gravity theories that deform general relativity in a way that breaks time reversal invariance and, very mildly, locality. The algebra of constraints, local physical degrees of freedom, and their linearized…
The equivalence of a conformal metric on 4-dimensional space-time and a local field of 3-dimensional subspaces of the space of 2-forms over space-time is discussed and the basic notion of transection is introduced. Corresponding relation is…
We define (non-Einsteinian) universal metrics as the metrics that solve the source-free covariant field equations of generic gravity theories. Here, extending the rather scarce family of universal metrics known in the literature, we show…
A unified description of all interactions could be based on a higher-dimensional theory involving only spinor fields. The metric arises as a composite object and the gravitational field equations contain torsion-corrections as compared to…
A simple cubic matrix model is presented, which has truncations that, it is argued, lead at the classical level to a variety of theories of gauge fields and gravity. These include Chern-Simons theory in d=3, and BF theory and general…
Geometric algebra is the natural outgrowth of the concept of a vector and the addition of vectors. After reviewing the properties of the addition of vectors, a multiplication of vectors is introduced in such a way that it encodes the famous…
This is an introduction for nonspecialists to the noncommutative geometric approach to Planck scale physics coming out of quantum groups. The canonical role of the `Planck scale quantum group' $C[x]\bicross C[p]$ and its observable-state…
What if physics is just the way we perceive geometry? That is, what if geometry and physics will one day become one and the same discipline? I believe that will mean we will at last really understand physics, without postulates other than…
The geometrical formulation of gravity is not unique and can be set up in a variety of spacetimes. Even though the gravitational sector enjoys this freedom of different geometrical interpretations, consistent matter couplings have to be…
This is a self-contained introduction to quantum Riemannian geometry based on quantum groups as frame groups, and its proposed role in quantum gravity. Much of the article is about the generalisation of classical Riemannian geometry that…
The continuum of real numbers has served well as a model for physical space in mechanics and field theories. However it is a well-motivated and popular idea that at the fundamental Planck scale the combination of gravitational and quantum…
Finite metric spaces arise in many different contexts. Enormous bodies of data, scientific, commercial and others can often be viewed as large metric spaces. It turns out that the metric of graphs reveals a lot of interesting information.…
The phenomenologically observed flatness - or near flatness - of spacetime cannot be understood as emerging from continuum Planck (or sub-Planck) scales using known physics. Using dimensional arguments it is demonstrated that any…
If gravity respects quantum mechanics, it is important to identify the essential postulates of a quantum framework capable of incorporating gravitational phenomena. Such a construct likely requires elimination or modification of some of the…
The theory of measurement is employed to elucidate the physical basis of general relativity. For measurements involving phenomena with intrinsic length or time scales, such scales must in general be negligible compared to the (translational…
The gauge theoretical formulation of general relativity is presented. We are only concerned with local intrinsic geometry, i.e. our space-time is an open subset of a four-dimensional real vector space. Then the gauge group is the set of…
We discuss how the vector nature of magnetic fields, and the geometrical interpretation of gravity introduced by general relativity, lead to a special coupling between magnetism and spacetime curvature. This magneto-geometrical interaction…
It is generally believed that any quantum theory of gravity should have a generic feature --- a quantum of length. We provide a physical ansatz to obtain an effective non-local metric tensor starting from the standard metric tensor such…
The configuration space of general relativity is superspace - the space of all Riemannian 3-metrics modulo diffeomorphisms. However, it has been argued that the configuration space for gravity should be conformal superspace - the space of…