Related papers: Quantum general invariance and loop gravity
I briefly review the current status of quantum gravity. After giving some general motivations for the need of such a theory, I discuss the main approaches in quantizing general relativity: Covariant approaches (perturbation theory,…
A discursive, non-technical, analysis is made of some of the basic issues that arise in almost any approach to quantum gravity, and of how these issues stand in relation to recent developments in the field. Specific topics include the…
Usual quantum mechanics requires a fixed, background, spacetime geometry and its associated causal structure. A generalization of the usual theory may therefore be needed at the Planck scale for quantum theories of gravity in which…
In it's usual presentation, classical mechanics appears to give time a very special role. But it is well known that mechanics can be formulated so as to treat the time variable on the same footing as the other variables in the extended…
The problem of finding the quantum theory of the gravitational field, and thus understanding what is quantum spacetime, is still open. One of the most active of the current approaches is loop quantum gravity. Loop quantum gravity is a…
A four dimensional generally covariant field theory is presented which describes non-dynamical three geometries coupled to scalar fields. The theory has an infinite number of physical observables (or constants of the motion) which are…
General covariance in quantum gravity is seen once one integrates over all possible metrics. In recent years topological field theories have given us a different route to general covariance without integrating over all possible metrics.…
We propose an approach which, by combining insights from Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), Topos theory, Non-commutative Geometry \`a la Connes, and spacetime relationalism, provides fertile ground for the search of an adequate spacetime picture…
Covariant generalizations of well-known wave equations predict the existence of inertial-gravitational effects for a variety of quantum systems that range from Bose-Einstein condensates to particles in accelerators. Additional effects arise…
General relativity has two fundamental problems that render it unsuitable for tackling the gravitational field's quantization. The first problem is the lack of a genuine gravitational variable representing gravitation only, inertial forces…
In the context of Covariant Quantum Mechanics for a spin particle, we classify the ``quantum vector fields'', i.e. the projectable Hermitian vector fields of a complex bundle of complex dimension 2 over spacetime. Indeed, we prove that the…
In the past, the possibility to employ (scalar) material reference systems in order to describe classical and quantum gravity directly in terms of gauge invariant (Dirac) observables has been emphasised frequently. This idea has been picked…
Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) is a promising approach to quantum gravity, in particular because it is based on a rigorous quantization of the kinematics of gravity. A difficult and still open problem in the LQG program is the construction of…
The quantum completion of the space of connections in a manifold can be seen as the set of all morphisms from the groupoid of the edges of the manifold to the (compact) gauge group. This algebraic construction generalizes the analogous…
The principle of local covariance which was recently introduced admits a generally covariant formulation of quantum field theory. It allows a discussion of structural properties of quantum field theory as well as the perturbative…
The developments of special relativity and quantum mechanics marked the beginning of the modern physics age. The former has taught us that while space and time are frame dependent notions, there is a quantity -- the space-time interval --…
Projective invariance is a symmetry of the Palatini version of General Relativity which is not present in the metric formulation. The fact that the Riemann tensor changes nontrivially under projective transformations implies that, unlike in…
We look at the various aspects of treating general relativity as a quantum theory. It is briefly studied how to consistently quantize general relativity as an effective field theory. A key achievement here is the long-range low-energy…
An outstanding open issue in our quest for physics beyond Einstein is the unification of general relativity (GR) and quantum physics. Loop quantum gravity (LQG) is a leading approach toward this goal. At its heart is the central lesson of…
The quantum potential approach makes it possible to construct a complementary picture of quantum mechanical evolution which reminds classical equation of motion. The only difference as compared to equations of motion for the underlying…