Related papers: The Modular Group, Operator Ordering, and Time in …
For (2+1)-dimensional spacetimes with the spatial topology of a torus, the transformation between the Chern-Simons and ADM versions of quantum gravity is constructed explicitly, and the wave functions are compared. It is shown that…
In the wake of a preceding article \cite{RogUnt06} introducing the Schr\"odinger-Virasoro group, we study its affine action on a space of $(1+1)$-dimensional Schr\"odinger operators with time- and space-dependent potential $V$ periodic in…
We use the polygon representation of 2+1--dimensional gravity to explicitly carry out the canonical quantization of a universe with the topology of a torus. The mapping-class-invariant wave function for a quantum ''big bounce'', is…
The role of the modular group in the holonomy representation of (2+1)-dimensional quantum gravity is studied. This representation can be viewed as a "Heisenberg picture", and for simple topologies, the transformation to the ADM…
2+1 gravity for spacetimes with topology RxT^2 has been much studied. We add a description of how to extend these spacetimes across a Cauchy horizon into a region where the torus becomes Lorentzian. The result is a one parameter family of…
Inspired by previous work in 2+1 dimensional quantum gravity, which found evidence for a discretization of time in the quantum theory, we reexamine the issue for the case of pure Lorentzian gravity with vanishing cosmological constant and…
We relate physical time with the topology of magnetic field vortices. We base ourselves on a formulation of unimodular gravity where the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ appears as the canonical dual to a variable which on-shell becomes…
A general classical theorem is presented according to which all invariant relations among the space time metric scalars, when turned into functions on the Phase Space of full Pure Gravity (using the Canonical Equations of motion), become…
I argue that the first-order formalism recently found to describe classical 2+1-Gravity with matter, is also able to include higher topologies. The present gauge, which is conformal with vanishing York time, is characterized by an analytic…
Chern-Simons formulation of 2+1 dimensional Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant is investigated when the spacetime has the topology $ R\times T^{2}$. The physical phase space is shown to be a direct product of two…
We construct stationary flat three-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds with singularities that are obtained from Euclidean surfaces with cone singularities and closed one-forms on these surfaces. In the application to (2+1)-gravity, these…
A model for 2D-quantum gravity from the Virasoro symmetry is studied. The notion of space-time naturally arises as a homogeneous space associated with the kinematical (non-dynamical) SL(2,R) symmetry in the kernel of the Lie-algebra central…
We define and discuss classical and quantum gravity in 2+1 dimensions in the Galilean limit. Although there are no Newtonian forces between massive objects in (2+1)-dimensional gravity, the Galilean limit is not trivial. Depending on the…
For spacetimes with the topology $\IR\!\times\!T^2$, the action of (2+1)-dimensional gravity with negative cosmological constant $\La$ is written uniquely in terms of the time-independent traces of holonomies around two intersecting…
The (2+1)-dimensional analog self-dual gravity which is obtained via spacetime dimension reduction of the (3+1)-dimensional Holst action without reducing the internal gauge group is studied. A Chern-Simons formulation for this theory is…
We propose that space-time results from collapse of the wave function of macroscopic objects, in quantum dynamics. We first argue that there ought to exist a formulation of quantum theory which does not refer to classical time. We then…
These notes summarise a talk surveying the combinatorial or Hamiltonian quantisation of three dimensional gravity in the Chern-Simons formulation, with an emphasis on the role of quantum groups and on the way the various physical constants…
It is shown that the Topological Massive and ``Self-dual'' theories, which are known to provide locally equivalent descriptions of spin 1 theories in 2+1 dimensions, have different global properties when formulated over topologically…
The implementation of modular invariance on the torus as a phase space at the quantum level is discussed in a group-theoretical framework. Unlike the classical case, at the quantum level some restrictions on the parameters of the theory…
Topology change in quantum gravity is considered. An exact wave function of the Universe is calculated for topological Chern-Simons 2+1 dimensional gravity. This wave function occurs as the effect of a quantum anomaly which leads to the…