Related papers: On the breakdown of space-time in general relativi…
General relativity is a covariant theory of two transverse, traceless graviton degrees of freedom. According to a theorem of Hojman, Kuchar, and Teitelboim, modifications of general relativity must either introduce new degrees of freedom or…
The covariance group for general relativity, the diffeomorphisms, is replaced by a group of coordinate transformations which contains the diffeomorphisms as a proper subgroup. The larger group is defined by the assumption that all observers…
In an ever-expanding spatially closed universe, the fractional change of the volume is the preeminent intrinsic time interval to describe evolution in General Relativity. The expansion of the universe serves as a subsidiary condition which…
As a sequel to our previous work\cite{Feng2020}, we propose in this paper a quantization scheme for Dirac field in de Sitter spacetime. Our scheme is covariant under both general transformations and Lorentz transformations. We first present…
In quantum time (QT) schemes, time is promoted to a degree of freedom, allowing Lorentz covariance to be made explicit for single particles. We ask whether this can be lifted to QFT, so that Lorentz covariance becomes manifest at the…
Canonical quantization of gravity requires knowledge about the representation theory of its constraint algebra, which is physically equivalent to the algebra of arbitrary 4-diffeomorphisms. All interesting lowest-energy representations are…
Traditional derivations of general relativity from the graviton degrees of freedom assume space-time Lorentz covariance as an axiom. In this essay, we survey recent evidence that general relativity is the unique spatially-covariant…
We present new second derivative, generally covariant theories of gravity for spherically symmetric spacetimes (general covariance is in the $t-r$ plane) belonging to the class where the spherically symmetric Einstein-Hilbert theory is…
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…
We study quantum gravity in $2+\epsilon$ dimensions in such a way to preserve the volume preserving diffeomorphism invariance. In such a formulation, we prove the following trinity: the general covariance, the conformal invariance and the…
(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…
The quantization of General Relativity invariant with respect to time-reparametrizations is considered. We construct the Faddeev-Popov generating functional for the unitary perturbation theory in terms of invariants of the kinemetric group…
We present a covariant quantization of the first-order formulation of the Einstein-Hilbert theory using the path integral and BV formalisms. In this approach, the metric $g^{\mu\nu}$ and the connection $\Gamma^\lambda_{\mu\nu}$ are treated…
We present an anomaly-free Dirac constraint quantization of the string-inspired dilatonic gravity (the CGHS model) in an open 2-dimensional spacetime. We show that the quantum theory has the same degrees of freedom as the classical theory;…
A discussion is given of recent developments in canonical gravity that assimilates the conformal analysis of gravitational degrees of freedom. The work is motivated by the problem of time in quantum gravity and is carried out at the metric…
Canonical quantization of gravitational systems is obstructed by the problem of time. Due to diffeomorphism symmetry the Hamiltonian vanishes: dynamics with respect to a background time parameter appears "frozen." Two strategies towards the…
The Einstein-Cartan theory of gravity can arise from a mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking within the context of pre-geometric gauge theories. In this work, we develop the Hamiltonian analysis of such theories. By making contact with…
Most quantum gravity theories quantize space time on the order of Planck length (lp). Some of these theories, such as loop quantum gravity (LQG), predict that this discreetness could be manifested through Lorentz invariance violations (LIV)…
In her recent work, Dittrich generalized Rovelli's idea of partial observables to construct Dirac observables for constrained systems to the general case of an arbitrary first class constraint algebra with structure functions rather than…
It is argued that the so-called holographic principle will obstruct attempts to produce physically realistic models for the unification of general relativity with quantum mechanics, unless determinism in the latter is restored. The notion…