Related papers: Observing Shape in Spacetime
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…
From the holographic renormalizationg group viewpoint, while the scale transformation plays a primary role in the duality by providing the extra dimension, the special conformal transformation seems to only play a secondary role. We,…
All gauge theories need ``something fixed'' even as ``something changes.'' Underlying the implementation of these ideas all major physical theories make indispensable use of an elaborately designed spacetime model as the ``something…
In theories with a diffeomorphism symmetry, such as general relativity and canonical quantum gravity, it is often proposed that the empirical content is encoded in relational observables. But how do relational observables actually make…
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…
We study the gauge invariance of physical observables in holographic theories under the local diffeomorphism. We find that gauge invariance is intimately related to the holographic renormalisation: the local counter terms defined in the…
We present an overview on relational observables in gravity mainly from a loop quantum gravity perspective. The gauge group of general relativity is the diffeomorphism group of the underlying manifold. Consequently, general relativity is a…
Canonical vacuum gravity is expressed in generally-covariant form in order that spacetime diffeomorphisms be represented within its equal-time phase space. In accordance with the principle of general covariance, the time mapping ${\T}:…
Gravitation is described in the context of a dilatonic theory that is conformally related to general relativity. All dimensionless ratios of fundamental dimensional quantities, e.g. particle masses and the Planck mass, as well as the…
Some of the most outstanding questions in the field of gravitation and geometry remain unsolved as a result of our limited understanding of the global structure of the spacetime geometry and the role played by global spacetime…
We investigate the gauge-invariant cosmological perturbations in the gravity and matter frames in the general scalar-tensor theory where two frames are related by the disformal transformation. The gravity and matter frames are the…
We propose a formal definition of a general reference frame in a general spacetime, as an equivalence class of charts. This formal definition corresponds with the notion of a reference frame as being a (fictitious) deformable body, but we…
We propose a deepening of the relativity principle according to which the invariant arena for non-quantum physics is a phase space rather than spacetime. Descriptions of particles propagating and interacting in spacetimes are constructed by…
In recent years, the use of conformal transformation techniques has become widespread in the literature on gravitational theories alternative to general relativity, on cosmology, and on nonminimally coupled scalar fields. Typically, the…
The 1+3 covariant approach and the covariant gauge-invariant approach to perturbations are used to analyze in depth conformal transformations in cosmology. Such techniques allow us to obtain very interesting insights on the physical content…
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 gauge symmetry of classical general relativity under space-time diffeomorphisms implies that any path integral quantization which can be interpreted as a sum over space-time geometries, gives rise to a formal invariant of smooth…
A covariant reformulation of General Relativity is briefly considered from three points of view: geometrodynamics, Lagrange-Euler field theory, and gauge field theory. From a geometrodynamics perspective, a definition of the reference frame…
We develop a framework based on the covariant phase space formalism that identifies gravitational edge modes as dynamical reference frames. They enable the identification of the associated spacetime region and the imposition of boundary…
We present a new scheme of defining invariant observables for general relativistic systems. The scheme is based on the introduction of an observer which endowes the construction with a straightforward physical interpretation. The…