Related papers: Note on Quantum Diffeomorphism Invariance, Physica…
We study vertex operators in 4D conformal field theory derived from quantized gravity, whose dynamics is governed by the Wess-Zumino action by Riegert and the Weyl action. Conformal symmetry is equal to diffeomorphism symmetry in the…
A simple diffeomorphism invariant theory of connections with the non-compact structure group R of real numbers is quantized. The theory is defined on a four-dimensional 'space-time' by an action resembling closely the self-dual Plebanski…
The configuration space of general relativity is superspace - the space of all Riemannian 3-metrics modulo diffeomorphisms. However, it has been argued that the configuration space for gravity should be conformal superspace - the space of…
We consider the quantum mechanics of Einstein gravity linearised about flat spacetime. The two transverse-traceless components of the metric perturbation are the true physical degrees of freedom. They appear in the quantum theory as free…
We propose that large quantum fluctuations of the conformal factor drastically modify classical general relativity at cosmological distance scales, resulting in a scale invariant phase of quantum gravity in the far infrared. We derive…
There is a precise sense in which the requirement of background independence suffices to uniquely select the kinematics of loop quantum gravity (LQG). Specifically, the fundamental kinematic algebra of LQG admits a unique diffeomorphism…
The quantum theory of a free particle on a portion of two-dimensional Euclidean space bounded by a circle and subject to non-local boundary conditions gives rise to bulk and surface states. Starting from this well known property, a…
The late-time cosmological dynamics of disformal gravity are investigated using dynamical systems methods. It is shown that in the general case there are no stable attractors that screen fifth-forces locally and simultaneously describe a…
We investigate the construction of coherent states for quantum theories of connections based on graphs embedded in a spatial manifold, as in loop quantum gravity. We discuss the many subtleties of the construction, mainly related to the…
We study the quantum aspects of the conformal gravity in four dimensions, specifically addressing a known discrepancy in beta functions between general quadratic curvature theories and conformal gravity, which corresponds to two scalar…
Inertial and gravitational mass or energy-momentum need not be the same for virtual quantum states. Separating their roles naturally leads to the gauge theory of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms of an inner four-dimensional space. The…
A (globally) neutral two-body system is supposed to obey a pair of coupled Klein-Gordon equations in a constant homogeneous magnetic field. Considering eigenstates of the pseudomomentum four-vector, we reduce these equations to a…
We discuss the nature of quantum field theories involving gravity that are classically scale-invariant. We show that gravitational radiative corrections are crucial in the determination of the nature of the vacuum state in such theories,…
The most general version of a renormalizable $d=4$ theory corresponding to a dimensionless higher-derivative scalar field model in curved spacetime is explored. The classical action of the theory contains $12$ independent functions, which…
Static, spherically symmetric solutions to the semi-classical Einstein equation are studied, including the effect of the quantum energy-momentum tensor for conformal matters with 4D Weyl anomaly. Through both perturbative and…
The approach to incorporate quantum effects in gravity by replacing free particle geodesics with Bohmian non-geodesic trajectories has an equivalent description in terms of a conformally related geometry, where the motion is force free,…
The quantum dynamics of the gravitational field non-minimally coupled to an (also dynamical) scalar field is studied in the {\em broken phase}. For a particular value of the coupling the system is classically conformal, and can actually be…
Central to condensed matter physics are quantum impurity models, which describe how a local degree of freedom interacts with a continuum. Surprisingly, these models are often universal in that they can quantitatively describe many outwardly…
The Hermiticity condition in quantum mechanics required for the characterisation of (a) physical observables and (b) generators of unitary motions can be relaxed into a wider class of operators whose eigenvalues are real and whose…
Free scalar field theory on 2 dimensional flat spacetime, cast in diffeomorphism invariant guise by treating the inertial coordinates of the spacetime as dynamical variables, is quantized using LQG type `polymer' representations for the…