Related papers: On Background Independence
I lay out the problem of time facets as arising piecemeal from a number of aspects of background independence. Almost all of these already have simpler classical counterparts. This approach can be viewed as a facet by facet completion of…
Background Independence is the modern form of the relational side of the Absolute versus Relational Debate. Difficulties with its implementation form the Problem of Time. Its 9 facets - Isham and Kucha\v{r}'s conceptual classification -…
Background independence is often emphasized as an important property of a quantum theory of gravity that takes seriously the geometrical nature of general relativity. In a background-independent formulation, quantum gravity should determine…
The aim of this paper is to explain carefully the arguments behind the assertion that the correct quantum theory of gravity must be background independent. We begin by recounting how the debate over whether quantum gravity must be…
We introduce the notion of background independent quantum field theory. The distinguishing feature of this theory is that the dynamics can be formulated without recourse to a background metric structure. We show in a simple model how the…
We discuss the meaning of background independence in quantum theories of gravity where geometry and gravity are emergent and illustrate the possibilities using the framework of quantum causal histories.
Intuitively speaking, a classical field theory is background-independent if the structure required to make sense of its equations is itself subject to dynamical evolution, rather than being imposed ab initio. The aim of this paper is to…
This paper answers examines the relationship between Diffeomorphism Invariance and Background Independence. First, a review of the relationship between Background Independence, General Relativity (GR) and pre-GR theories are given. Then, a…
This Series of Articles provides a local resolution of this major longstanding foundational problem between QM and GR, or, more generally, between Background Dependent and Background Independent Physics. We focus on the classical version;…
We argue that the demand of background independence in a quantum theory of gravity calls for an extension of standard geometric quantum mechanics. We discuss a possible kinematical and dynamical generalization of the latter by way of a…
The paper presents a metaphysical characterization of spatiotemporal backgrounds from a realist perspective. The conceptual analysis is based on a heuristic sketch that encompasses the common formal traits of the major spacetime theories,…
One of the many conceptual difficulties in the development of quantum gravity is the role of a background geometry for the structure of quantum field theory. To some extent the problem can be solved by the principle of local covariance. The…
In this final piecemeal treatment of local Problem of Time facets, and underlying Background Independence aspects, we first reconsider the ten local facets and aspects considered so far at the quantum level. This is essential both to…
Relationalism -- along the lines developed by Barbour and collaborators in the past 3 decades -- can be considered an advance with 1/4 of the facets of the canonical approach's Problem of Time as identified by Isham and Kuchar. Indeed,…
The scale dependent effective average action for quantum gravity complies with the fundamental principle of Background Independence. Ultimately the background metric it formally depends on is selected self-consistently by means of a…
The history of general relativity suggests that in absence of experimental data, constructing a theory on philosophical first principles can lead to a very useful theory as well as to ground-breaking insights about physical reality. The two…
This article contains a local solution to the notorious Problem of Time in Quantum Gravity at the conceptual level and which is actually realizable for the relational triangle. The Problem of Time is that `time' in GR and `time' in ordinary…
This is a review of James Read's insightful book, Background Independence in Classical and Quantum Gravity. The book introduces various notions of background-independence which it then makes precise, and uses to make verdicts about…
A local resolution of the Problem of Time has recently been given, alongside reformulation as a local theory of Background Independence. The classical part of this requires just Lie's Mathematics, much of which is basic: i) Lie derivatives…
We recapitulate the scheme of emergent gravity to highlight how a background independent quantum gravity can be defined by quantizing spacetime itself.