Related papers: Diffeomorphism Invariance and General Relativity
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…
The framework of a theory of gravity from the quantum to the classical regime is presented. The paradigm shift from full spacetime covariance to spatial diffeomorphism invariance, together with clean decomposition of the canonical…
Several approaches to the dynamics of loop quantum gravity involve discretizing the equations of motion. The resulting discrete theories are known to be problematic since the first class algebra of constraints of the continuum theory…
Einstein gravity in the Palatini first order formalism is shown to possess a vector supersymmetry of the type encountered in the topological gauge theories. A peculiar feature of the gravitationel theory is the link of this vector…
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…
Attempts to quantize general relativity encounter an odd problem. The Hamiltonian that normally generates time evolution vanishes in the case of general relativity as a result of diffeomorphism invariance. The theory seems to be saying that…
We investigate the action of diffeomorphisms in the context of Hamiltonian Gravity. By considering how the diffeomorphism-invariant Hilbert space of Loop Quantum Gravity should be constructed, we formulate a physical principle by demanding,…
Shape dynamics is a classical theory of gravity which agrees with general relativity in many important cases, but possesses different gauge symmetries and constraints. Rather than spacetime diffeomorphism invariance, shape dynamics takes…
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 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…
It is shown that the Hamiltonian of the Einstein affine-metric (first order) formulation of General Relativity (GR) leads to a constraint structure that allows the restoration of its unique gauge invariance, four-diffeomorphism, without the…
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…
A conventional wisdom often perpetuated in the literature states that: (i) a 3+1 decomposition of space-time into space and time is synonymous with the canonical treatment and this decomposition is essential for any Hamiltonian formulation…
On one popular view, the general covariance of gravity implies that change is relational in a strong sense, such that all it is for a physical degree of freedom to change is for it to vary with regard to a second physical degree of freedom.…
We study the cosmological implications of gravity models which break diffeomorphisms (Diff) invariance down to transverse diffeomorphisms (TDiff). We start from the most general gravitational action involving up to quadratic terms in…
This paper summarizes a new proposal to define rigorously a sector of loop quantum gravity at the diffeomorphism invariant level corresponding to homogeneous and isotropic cosmologies, thereby enabling a detailed comparison of results in…
Diffeomorphisms and an internal symmetry (e.g., local Lorentz invariance) are typically regarded as the symmetries of any geometrical gravity theory, including general relativity. In the first-order formalism, diffeomorphisms can be thought…
A general diffeomorphism invariant SU(2) gauge theory is a gravity theory with two propagating polarizations of the graviton. We develop this description of gravity, in particular for future applications to the perturbative quantization.…
All gauge theories need ``something fixed'' even as ``something changes.'' Underlying the implementation of these ideas all major physical theories make indispensable use of an elaborately designed spacetime model as the ``something…
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…