Related papers: General Covariance, Diffeomorphism Invariance, and…
Conceptual difficulties in semiclassical and quantum gravity arise from diffeomorphism invariance of classical general relativity. With a motivation to shed some light on these difficulties, we study a class of toy models for which…
(Abridged Abstract) This paper deals with a number of technical achievements that are instrumental for a dis-solution of the so-called {\it Hole Argument} in general relativity. The work is carried through in metric gravity for the class of…
This thesis studies general relativity (GR) using chiral formulations, which take advantage of the decomposition of the four-dimensional Lorentz group into self-dual and anti-self-dual sectors. Within this framework, GR can be expressed…
In this paper we extend some previous results for a new proposal for gravity and place them into overall context. The basic fields of this proposal provide an off-shell realization of symmetry with respect to SO(3,C) gauge transformations…
We consider general relativity with a cosmological constant as a perturbative expansion around a completely solvable diffeomorphism invariant field theory. This theory is the $\Lambda\to\infty$ limit of general relativity. This allows an…
An argument is made to show that the singularity in the General Theory of Relativity (GTR) is the expression of a non-Machian feature. It can be avoided with a scale-invariant dynamical theory, a property lacking in GTR. It is further…
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…
Gravitational theories with fixed background fields break diffeomorphism invariance. This breaking can be spontaneous or explicit. A brief summary of the main consequences of these types of breaking is presented.
In this article we describe applications of Discrete Differential Forms in computational GR. In particular we consider the initial value problem in vacuum space-times that are spherically symmetric. The motivation to investigate this method…
We examine local physics in the presence of global variables: variables associated with the whole of the spacelike surfaces of a foliation. These could be the (pseudo-)constants of nature and their conjugate times, but our statements are…
The recently introduced manifestly covariant canonical quantization scheme is applied to gravity. New diffeomorphism anomalies generating a multi-dimensional generalization of the Virasoro algebra arise. This does not contradict theorems…
Mach's principle is surely one of those tantalizingly beautiful concepts in physics which remain elusive. Though General Relativity (GR) was conceived in the spirit of realizing it, the theory failed to fulfill this expectation. Here a…
We have recently argued that if one introduces a relational time in quantum mechanics and quantum gravity, the resulting quantum theory is such that pure states evolve into mixed states. The rate at which states decohere depends on the…
In this paper, we study implications of the geometrical nature of space- time for some of the basic tenets of quantum mechanics. That is, we study two different implications of the principle of general covariance; first we quantize a…
In the literature on $f(T)$ gravity, the status of local Lorentz invariance and the number of physical degrees of freedom have been controversial issues. Relying on a detailed Hamiltonian analysis, we show that there are several scenarios…
It was generally believed that, in general relativity, the fundamental laws of nature should be invariant or covariant under a general coordinate transformation. In general relativity, the equivalence principle tells us the existence of a…
This thesis concerns research undertaken in two related topics concerning high-energy gravitational physics. The first is the construction of a manifestly diffeomorphism-invariant Exact Renormalization Group (ERG). This is a procedure that…
Diffeomorphism-induced symmetry transformations and time evolution are distinct operations in generally covariant theories formulated in phase space. Time is not frozen. Diffeomorphism invariants are consequently not necessarily constants…
We investigate the fate of determinism in general relativity (GR), comparing the philosopher's account with the physicist's well-posed initial value formulations. The fate of determinism is interwoven with the question of what it is for a…
An outline of a proof of the local decomposition of linear metric perturbations into gauge-invariant and gauge-variant parts on an arbitrary background spacetime is briefly explained. We explicitly construct the gauge-invariant and…