Related papers: Same-diff? Conceptual similarities between gauge t…
We deal with germs of diffeomorphisms that are reversible under an involution. We establish that this condition implies that, in general, both the family of reversing symmetries and the group of symmetries are not finite, in contrast with…
It is well known that in a generally covariant gravitational theory the choice of spacetime scalars as coordinates yields phase-space observables (or "invariants"). However their relation to the symmetry group of diffeomorphism…
It is shown that the correct mathematical implementation of symmetry in the geometric formulation of classical field theory leads naturally beyond the concept of Lie groups and their actions on manifolds, out into the realm of Lie group…
We consider families of geometries of D--dimensional space, described by a finite number of parameters. Starting from the De Witt metric we extract a unique integration measure which turns out to be a geometric invariant, i.e. independent…
Recent investigations into asymptotic symmetries of gauge theory and gravity have illuminated connections between gauge field zero-mode sectors, the corresponding soft factors, and their classically observable counterparts -- so called…
Diffeomorphism invariance is sometimes taken to be a criterion of background independence. This claim is commonly accompanied by a second, that the genuine physical magnitudes (the "observables") of background-independent theories and those…
An alternative interpretation of the conformal transformations of the metric is discussed according to which the latter can be viewed as a mapping among Riemannian and Weyl-integrable spaces. A novel aspect of the conformal transformation's…
Our conventional system of physical units is based on local or microscopic {\it dimensional} quantities which are {\it defined}, for convenience or otherwise aesthetic reasons, to be spacetime-independent. A more general choice of units may…
One of the main features of covariant theories, in particular general relativity, is that the field equation possesses gauge freedom associated with global diffeomorphisms of the underlying manifold. I shall explain here how the hole…
In this thesis we study different aspects of noncommutativity in quantum mechanics, field theory and gravity. We give particular emphasis on the underlying symmetries of these theories. Deformations of usual symmetries like the external…
Gauge symmetries indicate redundancies in the description of the relevant degrees of freedom of a given field theory and restrict the nature of observable quantities. One of the problems faced by emergent theories of relativistic fields is…
The representation theory of non-centrally extended Lie algebras of Noether symmetries, including spacetime diffeomorphisms and reparametrizations of the observer's trajectory, has recently been developped. It naturally solves some…
We consider two concepts often discussed as significant features of general relativity (particularly when contrasted with the other forces of the Standard Model): background independence and diffeomorphism invariance. We remind the reader…
The concept of symmetries in physics is briefly reviewed. In the first part of these lecture notes, some of the basic mathematical tools needed for the understanding of symmetries in nature are presented, namely group theory, Lie groups and…
We classify simply-connected homogeneous ($D+1$)-dimensional spacetimes for kinematical and aristotelian Lie groups with $D$-dimensional space isotropy for all $D\geq 0$. Besides well-known spacetimes like Minkowski and (anti) de Sitter we…
I discuss gauge and global symmetries in particle physics, condensed matter physics, and quantum gravity. In a modern understanding, global symmetries are approximate and gauge symmetries may be emergent. (Based on a lecture at the April,…
A generalized symmetry of a system of differential equations is an infinitesimal transformation depending locally upon the fields and their derivatives which carries solutions to solutions. We classify all generalized symmetries of the…
This manuscript is devoted to introduce a gauge theory of the Lorentz Group based on the ambiguity emerging in dealing with isometric diffeo-morphism-induced Lorentz transformations. The behaviors under local transformations of fermion…
We consider the theory of a symmetric tensor field in 4D, invariant under a subclass of infinitesimal diffeomorphism transformations, where the vector diff parameter is the 4-divergence of a scalar parameter. The resulting gauge symmetry…
The following two loosely connected sets of topics are reviewed in these lecture notes: 1) Gauge invariance, its treatment in field theories and its implications for internal symmetries and edge states such as those in the quantum Hall…