Related papers: Plane waves in quantum gravity: breakdown of the c…
Pure gravitational plane waves are considered as a special case of spacetimes with two commuting spacelike Killing vector fields. Starting with a midisuperspace that describes this kind of spacetimes, we introduce gauge-fixing and symmetry…
A midi-superspace model is a field theory obtained by symmetry reduction of a parent gravitational theory. Such models have proven useful for exploring the classical and quantum dynamics of the gravitational field. I present 3 recent…
We quantise and solve the dynamics of gravitational waves in a quantum Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetime filled with perfect fluid. The classical model is formulated canonically. The Hamiltonian constraint is de-parametrised by…
We study the quantization of the curved spacetime created by ultrarelativistic particles at Planckian energies. We consider a minisuperspace model based on the classical shock wave metric generated by these particles, and for which the…
The canonical quantization of the essentially nonlinear midisuperspace model describing cylindrically symmetric gravitational waves with two polarizations is presented. A Fock space type representation is constructed. It is based on a…
We give a comprehensive review of the quantization of midisuperspace models. Though the main focus of the paper is on quantum aspects, we also provide an introduction to several classical points related to the definition of these models. We…
The Hamiltonian structure of spacetimes with two commuting Killing vector fields is analyzed for the purpose of addressing the various problems of time that arise in canonical gravity. Two specific models are considered: (i) cylindrically…
The de~Broglie--Bohm (pilot wave) formulation of quantum theory appears to be free from the conceptual problems specific to quantum mechanics (problem of measurement) and to quantum cosmology (problem of time). We discuss the issue of…
In a (1+1)-dimensional midi-superspace model for gravitational plane waves, a flat space-time condition is imposed with constraints derived from null Killing vectors. Solutions to a straightforward regularization of these constraints have…
We explore the features of gravity in its quantum regime in a mathematically rigorous way by carrying out the classical and quantum formulations of some two-Killing symmetry reductions of general relativity which admit an exact…
Coherent or semiclassical states in canonical quantum gravity describe the classical Schwarzschild space-time. By tracing over the coherent state wavefunction inside the horizon, a density matrix is derived. Bekenstein-Hawking entropy is…
Loop quantum gravity methods are applied to a symmetry-reduced model with homogeneity in two dimensions, derived from a Gowdy model [5,6]. The conditions for propagation of unidirectional plane gravitational waves at exactly the speed of…
The polarized Gowdy model in terms of Ashtekar-Barbero variables is further reduced by including the Killing equations for plane-fronted parallel gravitational waves with parallel rays. The resulting constraint algebra, including one…
The aim of these notes is to elucidate some aspects of quantum field theory in curved spacetime, especially those relating to the notion of particles. A selection of issues relevant to wave-particle duality is given. The case of a generic…
We formulate quantum mechanics in spacetimes with real-order fractional geometry and more general factorizable measures. In spacetimes where coordinates and momenta span the whole real line, Heisenberg's principle is proven and the…
Vacuum polarization of a massive scalar field in the background of a two-dimensional version of a spinning cosmic string is investigated. It is shown that when the `radius of the universe' is such that spacetime is globally hyperbolic the…
We give a review of recent work aimed at understanding the dynamics of gravitational collapse in quantum gravity. Its goal is to provide a non-perturbative computational framework for understanding the emergence of the semi-classical…
Quantization in the mini-superspace of a gravity system coupled to a perfect fluid, leads to a solvable model which implies singularity free solutions through the construction of a superposition of the wavefunctions. We show that such…
We study the quantization of spherically symmetric vacuum spacetimes within loop quantum gravity. In particular, we give additional details about our previous work in which we showed that one could complete the quantization the model and…
We consider the quantization of the midi-superspace associated with a class of spacetimes with toroidal isometries, but without the compact spatial hypersurfaces of the well-known Gowdy models. By a symmetry reduction, the phase space for…