Related papers: Back to Parmenides
We address the issue of recovering the time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation from quantum gravity in a natural way. To reach this aim it is necessary to understand the nonoccurrence of certain superpositions in quantum gravity. We explore…
This thesis contains an analysis of the problem of time in quantum cosmology and its application to a cosmological minisuperspace model. In the first part, we introduce the problem of time and the theoretical foundations. In the second…
The need for a time-shift invariant formulation of quantum theory arises from fundamental symmetry principles as well as heuristic cosmological considerations. Such a description then leaves open the question of how to reconcile global…
A deformation of special relativistic kinematics (possible signal of a theory of quantum gravity at low energies) leads to a modification of the notion of spacetime. At the classical level, this modification is required when one considers a…
The Wheeler-DeWitt Equation represents a tool to study Quantum Gravity and Quantum Cosmology. Its solution in a very general context is, of course, impossible. To this purpose we consider some distortions of General Relativity like…
We show that the local and deterministic mode of description is not only in conflict with the quantum theory, but also with relativity. We argue that elementary relativistic properties of spacetime lead to the emergence of a…
The problem of unification of Gravitation and Electromagnetism in four dimensions; some new ideas involving mixtures of commuting and anti-commuting co-ordinates. Maxwell's equations are extracted in terms of the curvature of the…
The aim of this work is to review the concepts of time in quantum mechanics and general relativity to show their incompatibility. We show that the absolute character of Newtonian time is present in quantum mechanics and also partially in…
We review different approaches to quantum gravity in which spacetime is emerging. We discuss in some detail the proposals by G. Volovik and S. Lloyd and show how they differ in the way they treat time. We further propose an approach to…
I argue that Einstein overlooked an important aspect of the relativity of time in never quite realizing his quest to embody Mach's principle in his theory of gravity. As a step towards that goal, I broaden the Strong Equivalence Principle…
The application of quantum theory to cosmology raises a number of conceptual questions, such as the role of the quantum-mechanical notion of "observer" or the absence of a time variable in the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. I point out that a…
Current physics is faced with the fundamental problem of unifying quantum theory and general relativity, which would have resulted in quantum gravity. The main effort to construct the latter has been bent on quantizing spacetime structure,…
The geometric form of standard quantum mechanics is compatible with the two postulates: 1) The laws of physics are invariant under the choice of experimental setup and 2) Every quantum observation or event is intrinsically statistical.…
Within any anticipated unifying theory of quantum gravity, it should be meaningful to combine the fundamental notions of quantum superposition and spacetime to obtain so-called "spacetime superpositions": that is, quantum superpositions of…
Quantum gravity--the marriage of quantum physics with general relativity--is bound to contain deep and important lessons for the nature of physical time. Some of these lessons shall be canvassed here, particularly as they arise from quantum…
Any canonical quantum theory can be understood to arise from the compatibility of the statistical geometry of distinguishable observations with the canonical Poisson structure of Hamiltonian dynamics. This geometric perspective offers a…
We propose a solution to the problem of time for systems with a single global Hamiltonian constraint. Our solution stems from the observation that, for these theories, conventional gauge theory methods fail to capture the full classical…
The Problem of Time in Quantum Gravity is analyzed from a classical presymplectic perspective. In the first part of the paper the Three Space Approach to General Relativity is introduced via the Barbour-Foster-\'O Murchadha action and the…
We discuss the distinction between the notion of partial observable and the notion of complete observable. Mixing up the two is frequently a source of confusion. The distinction bears on several issues related to observability, such as (i)…
The "problem of time" in canonical quantum gravity refers to the difficulties involved in defining a Hilbert space structure on states -- and local observables on this Hilbert space -- for a theory in which the spacetime metric is treated…