Related papers: Diffeomorphism invariance and general covariance: …
The Hawking-Penrose theorem is not covariant under field redefinitions. Should the invariance under such transformations be a true principle in Nature, spacetime singularities become dubious objects. We here review the concept of covariant…
One unusual property of dynamic systems, whose state is characterized by a set of scalar dynamic variables satisfying a system of differential equations of a general form, is considered. This property is related to the behavior of equations…
It is well known that general relativity (GR) does not possess any non-trivial local (in a precise standard sense) and diffeomorphism invariant observables. We propose a generalized notion of local observables, which retain the most…
Based on the principle of relativity, we find that the sufficient and necessary condition for the general covariance of a field theory actually requires more than the invariance of its local Langrangian density. If the spacetime is not a…
The different roles and natures of spacetime appearing in a quantum field theory and in classical physics are analyzed implying that a quantum theory of gravitation is not necessarily a quantum theory of curved spacetime. Developing an…
Diffeomorphism symmetry, the fundamental invariance of general relativity, is generically broken under discretization. After discussing the meaning and implications of diffeomorphism symmetry in the discrete, in particular for the continuum…
The paper considers the "GR-desideratum", that is, the way general relativity implements general covariance, diffeomorphism invariance, and background independence. Two cases are discussed where $5$-dimensional generalizations of general…
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…
General Relativity is usually formulated as a theory with gauge invariance under the diffeomorphism group, but there is a 'dilaton' formulation where it is in addition invariant under Weyl transformations, and a 'unimodular' formulation…
The notion of "reference frame" is a central theoretical construct for interpreting the physical implications of spacetime diffeomorphism invariance in General Relativity. However, the alternative formulation of classical General Relativity…
Classically general covariance is found from the idea that a vector is a physical quantity which exists independently of choice of coordinate system and is unchanged by a change of coordinate system. It is often assumed that there exists…
We consider in detail the problem of gauge dependence that exists in relativistic perturbation theory, going beyond the linear approximation and treating second and higher order perturbations. We first derive some mathematical results…
We show in detail how the histories description of general relativity carries representations of both the spacetime diffeomorphisms group and the Dirac algebra of constraints. We show that the introduction of metric-dependent equivariant…
This note is to bring to the reader's attention the fact that general relativity and quantum mechanics differ from each other in one main aspect. General relativity is based on the diffeomorphism covariant formulation of the laws of physics…
It is known that some cosmological perturbations are conformal invariant. This facilitates the studies of perturbations within some gravitational theories alternative to general relativity, for example the scalar-tensor theory, because it…
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…
In this paper, we study implications of the geometrical nature of space- time for some of the basic tenets of quantum mechanics. That is, we study two different implications of the principle of general covariance; first we quantize a…
The possibility that global discrete dilation invariance is a fundamental symmetry principle of nature is explored. If the discrete self-similarity observed in nature is exact, then the Principle of General Covariance needs to be broadened…
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 diffeomorphism covariance is a fundamental property of General Relativity which leads to the fact that the same solution of Einstein equation can be given in completely distinct forms in different coordinate systems. Distinguishing or…