Related papers: Observables need not be diffeomorphism invariant i…
A model is proposed to demonstrate that classical general relativity can emerge from loop quantum gravity, in a relational description of gravitational field in terms of the coordinates given by matter. Local Dirac observables and coherent…
In order to test the canonical quantization programme for general relativity we introduce a reduced model for a real sector of complexified Ashtekar gravity which captures important properties of the full theory. While it does not…
A model is proposed to demonstrate that classical general relativity can emerge from loop quantum gravity, in a relational description of gravitational field in terms of coordinates given by matter. Local Dirac observables and coherent…
As a toy model for the implementation of the diffeomorphism constraint, the interpretation of the resulting states, and the treatment of ordering ambiguities in loop quantum gravity, we consider the Hilbert space of spatially diffeomorphism…
Local observables in (perturbative) quantum gravity are notoriously hard to define, since the gauge symmetry of gravity -- diffeomorphisms -- moves points on the manifold. In particular, this is a problem for backgrounds of high symmetry…
We develop a quantum effective action for scalar-tensor theories of gravity which is both spacetime diffeomorphism invariant and field reparameterisation (frame) invariant beyond the classical approximation. We achieve this by extending the…
A clock synchronization thought experiment is modeled by a diffeomorphism invariant "time delay" observable. In a sense, this observable probes the causal structure of the ambient Lorentzian spacetime. Thus, upon quantization, it is…
A new approach to a unified theory of quantum gravity based on noncommutative geometry and canonical quantum gravity is presented. The approach is built around a *-algebra generated by local holonomy-diffeomorphisms on a 3-manifold and a…
A careful study of the induced transformations on spatial quantities due to 4-dimensional spacetime diffeomorphisms in the canonical formulation of general relativity is undertaken. Use of a general formalism, which indicates the role of…
We present a manifestly Lorentz- and SO(2)-Duality-invariant local Quantum Field Theory of electric charges, Dirac magnetic monopoles and dyons. The manifest invariances are achieved by means of the PST-mechanism. The dynamics for classical…
We review some work done with C. Rovelli on the use of the eigenvalues of the Dirac operator on a curved spacetime as dynamical variables, the main motivation coming from their invariance under the action of diffeomorphisms. The eigenvalues…
On the basis of a limited number of reasonable axioms, we discuss the classification of all the possible universality classes of diffeomorphisms invariant metric theories of quantum gravity. We use the language of the renormalization group…
Some conceptual issues concerning general invariant theories, with special emphasis on general relativity, are analyzed. The common assertion that observables must be required to be gauge invariant is examined in the light of the role…
We discuss two distinct realizations of the diffeomorphism group for metric gravity, which give rise to theories that are classically equivalent, but quantum mechanically distinct. We renormalize them in $d=2+\epsilon$ dimensions,…
The representation theory of non-centrally extended Lie algebras of Noether symmetries, including spacetime diffeomorphisms and reparametrizations of the observer's trajectory, has recently been developped. It naturally solves some…
The algebra of observables associated with a quantum field theory is invariant under the connected component of the Lorentz group and under parity reversal, but it is not invariant under time reversal. If we take general covariance…
We study a model for quantum gravity on a circle in which the notion of a classical metric tensor is replaced by a quantum metric with an inhomogeneous transformation law under diffeomorphisms. This transformation law corresponds to the…
To guarantee the stability of the cosmological constant sector against radiative corrections coming from quantum matter fields, one of the most natural ingredients to invoke is the symmetry under scale transformations of the gravitational…
The interplay between the diffeomorphism and conformal symmetries (a feature common in quantum field theories) is shown to be exhibited for the case of black holes in two dimensional classical Liouville theory. We show that although the…
I examine the relationship between $(d+1)$-dimensional Poincar\'e metrics and $d$-dimensional conformal manifolds, from both mathematical and physical perspectives. The results have a bearing on several conceptual issues relating to…