Related papers: General Covariance Constraints on Cosmological Cor…
Deforming the algebra of constraint is a well-known approach to effective loop quantum cosmology. More generally, it is a consistent way to modify gravity from the Hamiltonian perspective. In this framework, the Hamiltonian (scalar)…
In the present paper, we revisit gravitational theories which are invariant under TDiffs -- transverse (volume preserving) diffeomorphisms and global scale transformations. It is known that these theories can be rewritten in an equivalent…
Cosmological fluctuations retain a memory of the physics that generated them in their spatial correlations. The strength of correlations varies smoothly as a function of external kinematics, which is encoded in differential equations…
It is shown that a first-order cosmological perturbation theory for the open, flat and closed Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker universes admits one, and only one, gauge-invariant variable which describes the perturbation to the energy…
We apply the ``consistent discretization'' approach to general relativity leaving the spatial slices continuous. The resulting theory is free of the diffeomorphism and Hamiltonian constraints, but one can impose the diffeomorphism…
The invariance of physical observables under disformal transformations is considered. It is known that conformal transformations leave physical observables invariant. However, whether it is true for disformal transformations is still an…
We investigate gauge invariant cosmological perturbations in a spatially flat Friedman-Robertson-Walker universe with scalar fields. It is well known that the evolution equation for the gauge invariant quantities has exact solutions in the…
Gauge symmetries lead to first-class constraints. This assertion is of course true only for non trivial gauge symmetries, i.e., gauge symmetries that act non trivially on-shell on the dynamical variables. We illustrate this well-appreciated…
Primordial perturbations in our universe are believed to have a quantum origin, and can be described by the wavefunction of the universe (or equivalently, cosmological correlators). It follows that these observables must carry the imprint…
Based on the canonical quantization of $d>2$ dimensional general relativity (GR) via the Dirac constraint formalism (also termed as `constraint quantization'), we propose the loss of covariance as a fundamental property of the theory. This…
We present a covariant formulation for constructing general quadratic actions for cosmological perturbations, invariant under a given set of gauge symmetries for a given field content. This approach allows us to analyse scalar, vector and…
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…
We review and discuss the role of diffeomorphism symmetry in quantum gravity models. Such models often involve a discretization of the space-time manifold as a regularization method. Generically this leads to a breaking of the symmetries to…
The relativistic theory of structure formation in cosmology is based mainly on linear perturbations about a homogeneous background. But we are now driven to understand the theory of higher-order perturbations in full detail, both from…
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…
It is shown that when the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian is considered without any non-covariant modifications or change of variables, its Hamiltonian formulation leads to results consistent with principles of General Relativity. The…
In the first part of the thesis we focus on local symmetries. We review a self-consistent framework that we employed in order to discuss the dynamics of the theories of interest. Its merit lies in that we can make the symmetry group act…
It is generally believed that a full-fledged theory of quantum gravity should exhibit background independence and diffeomorphism invariance. In its most general form, the latter comprises field redefinitions, which are diffeomorphisms in…
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 General Relativity and gauge field theory, one often encounters a claim, which may be called the boundary problem, according to which "boundaries break diffeomorphism and gauge symmetries". We argue that this statement has the same…