Related papers: Observables need not be diffeomorphism invariant i…
A general diffeomorphism invariant SU(2) gauge theory is a gravity theory with two propagating polarizations of the graviton. We develop this description of gravity, in particular for future applications to the perturbative quantization.…
We consider theories describing the dynamics of a four-dimensional metric, whose Lagrangian is diffeomorphism invariant and depends at most on second derivatives of the metric. Imposing degeneracy conditions we find a set of Lagrangians…
We study deterministic and quantum dynamics from a constructive "finite" point of view, since the introduction of a continuum, or other actual infinities in physics poses serious conceptual and technical difficulties, without any need for…
This paper deals with several technical issues of non-perturbative four-dimensional Lorentzian canonical quantum gravity in the continuum that arose in connection with the recently constructed Wheeler-DeWitt quantum constraint operator. 1)…
Integration of Kirillov form on a coadjoint orbit of Virasoro algebra yields the coupling of a background field to Polyakov's two dimensional quantum gravity. This background field is used to be called the diffeomorphism field. Einstein's…
We investigate whether true physical observables associated with the measurements of large scale structure in the universe are frame-independent. In particular, we study if cosmological observables such as the galaxy number counts are…
The eigenvalues of the Dirac operator on a curved spacetime are diffeomorphism-invariant functions of the geometry. They form an infinite set of ``observables'' for general relativity. Recent work of Chamseddine and Connes suggests that…
This paper is a serious attempt at reconciling quantum and classical mechanics through the concept of dynamic space and the acceptance of non-zero Ricci tensor for vacuum. Starting with scalar particles, the paper shows that with those two…
We consider a class of Lorentz-violating theories of gravity involving a timelike unit vector field (the aether) coupled to a metric, two examples being Einstein-aether theory and Ho\v{r}ava gravity. The action always includes the Ricci…
We have examined quantum theories of electric magnetic duality invariant vector fields enjoying classical conformal invariance in 4-dimensional flat spacetime. We extend Dirac's argument about "the conditions for a quantum field theory to…
Contrary to what is often stated, a fundamental spacetime discreteness need not contradict Lorentz invariance. A causal set's discreteness is in fact locally Lorentz invariant, and we recall the reasons why. For illustration, we introduce a…
We discuss diffeomorphism and gauge invariant theories in three dimensions motivated by the fact that some models of interest do not have a suitable action description yet. The construction is based on a canonical representation of symmetry…
We introduce a reduced model for a real sector of complexified Ashtekar gravity that does not correspond to a subset of Einstein's gravity but for which the programme of canonical quantization can be carried out completely, both, via the…
This paper examines the variance of quantum and classical predictions in the quantum realm, as well as unexpected presence and absence of variances. Some features are found that share an indirect commonality with the Aharonov-Bohm and…
Let a differential 4D-manifold with a smooth coframe field be given. Consider the operators on it that are linear in the second order derivatives or quadratic in the first order derivatives of the coframe, both with coefficients that depend…
Classically general covariance is found from the idea that a vector is a physical quantity which exists independently of choice of coordinate system and is unchanged by a change of coordinate system. It is often assumed that there exists…
We describe explicitly how entanglement between quantum mechanical subsystems can lead to emergent gauge symmetry in a classical limit. We first provide a precise characterisation of when it is consistent to treat a quantum subsystem…
Theories of gravity invariant under those diffeomorphisms generated by transverse vectors, $\pd_\m\xi^\m=0$ are considered. Such theories are dubbed transverse, and differ from General Relativity in that the determinant of the metric, $g$,…
We introduce a gauge and diffeomorphism invariant theory on Yang-Mills phase space. The theory is well defined for an arbitrary gauge group with an invariant bilinear form, it contains only first class constraints, and the spacetime metric…
We show that for classical Liouville field theory, diffeomorphism invariance, Weyl invariance and locality cannot hold together. This is due to a genuine Virasoro center, present in the theory, that leads to an energy\hyp{}momentum tensor…