Related papers: Midisuperspace quantization: possibilities for fra…
New covariant theories of emergent modified gravity exist not only in spherically symmetric models, as previously found, but also in polarized Gowdy systems that have a local propagating degree of freedom. Several explicit versions are…
The Lagrangian constraint analysis of the selfdual massive spin 2 theory in a 2+1 dimensional flat space-time and its extension to a curved one, are performed. Demanding consistence of degrees of freedom in the model with gravitational…
Bohmian mechanics offers a deterministic alternative to conventional quantum theory through well-defined particle trajectories. While successful in nonrelativistic contexts, its extension to curved spacetime-and hence quantum…
Strategies intended to resolve the problem of time in quantum gravity by means of emergent or hidden timefunctions are considered in the arena of relational particle toy models. In situations with `heavy' and `light' degrees of freedom, two…
The wavefunctional in quantum gravity gives an amplitude for 3-geometries and matter fields. The four-space is usually recovered in a semiclassical approximation where the gravity variables are taken to oscillate rapidly compared to matter…
We investigate symmetric Metric-Affine Theories of Gravity with a Lagrangian containing all operators of dimension up to four that are relevant to free propagation in flat space. Complementing recent work in the antisymmetric case, we…
The possibility that a classical space-time and quantum matter cohabit at the deepest level, i.e. the possibility of having a fundamental and not phenomenological semiclassical gravity, is often disregarded for lack of a good candidate…
We study the degrees of freedom of the metric in a general class of higher derivative gravity models, which are interesting in the context of quantum gravity as they are (super)renormalizable. First, we linearize the theory for a flat…
We study a class of theories in which space-time is treated classically, while interacting with quantum fields. These circumvent various no-go theorems and the pathologies of semi-classical gravity, by being linear in the density matrix and…
Based on a recent purely geometric construction of observables for the spatial diffeomorphism constraint, we propose two distinct quantum reductions to spherical symmetry within full 3+1-dimensional loop quantum gravity. The construction of…
Should nature be supersymmetric, then it will be described by Quantum Supergravity at least in some energy regimes. The currently most advanced description of Quantum Supergravity and beyond is Superstring Theory/M-Theory in 10/11…
We consider pure three-dimensional quantum gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The sum of known contributions to the partition function from classical geometries can be computed exactly, including quantum corrections. However,…
Starting with the Hamiltonian formulation for spacetimes with two commuting spacelike Killing vectors, we construct a midisuperspace model for linearly polarized plane waves in vacuum gravity. This model has no constraints and its degrees…
Alternative theories of gravity have been recently studied in connection with their cosmological applications, both in the Palatini and in the metric formalism. The aim of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework (in the Palatini…
Deformations of spacelike hypersurfaces in space-time play an important role in discussions of general covariance and slicing independence in gravitational theories. In a canonical formulation, they provide the geometrical meaning of gauge…
Numerous approaches to a quantum theory of gravity posit fundamental ontologies that exclude spacetime, either partially or wholly. This situation raises deep questions about how such theories could relate to the empirical realm, since…
Dimensional reductions of various higher dimensional (super)gravity theories lead to effectively two-dimensional field theories described by gravity coupled G/H nonlinear sigma-models. We show that a new set of complexified variables can be…
Motivated by the apparent dependence of string $\sigma$--models on the sum of spacetime metric and antisymmetric tensor fields, we reconsider gravity theories constructed from a nonsymmetric metric. We first show that all such "geometrical"…
We argue that theories of quantum gravity constructed with the help of (Causal) Dynamical Triangulations have given us the most informative, quantitative models to date of quantum spacetime. Most importantly, these are derived dynamically…
There exists a large class of generally covariant metric Lagrangians that contain only local terms and describe two propagating degrees of freedom. Trivial examples can be be obtained by applying a local field redefinition to the Lagrangian…