相关论文: Background Independence: $\mathbb{S}^1$ and $\math…
Kendall's Shape Theory covers shapes formed by $N$ points in $\mathbb{R}^d$ upon quotienting out the similarity transformations. This theory is based on the geometry and topology of the corresponding configuration space: shape space.…
This treatise concerns shapes in the sense of constellations of points with various automorphisms quotiented out: continuous translations, rotations and dilations, and also discrete mirror image identification and labelling…
Background Independence is the modern form of the relational side of the Absolute versus Relational Debate. Difficulties with its implementation form the Problem of Time. Its 9 facets - Isham and Kucha\v{r}'s conceptual classification -…
Kendall's Similarity Shape Theory for constellations of points in the carrier space $\mathbb{R}^n$ was developed for use in Probability and Statistics. It was subsequently shown to reside within (Classical and Quantum) Mechanics'…
Shape(-and-scale) spaces - configuration spaces for generalized Kendall-type Shape(-and-Scale) Theories - are usually not manifolds but stratified manifolds. While in Kendall's own case - similarity shapes - the shape spaces are…
Suppose one seeks to free oneself from a symmetric absolute space by quotienting out its symmetry group. This in general however fails to erase all memory of this absolute space's symmetry properties. Stratification is one major reason for…
The program of understanding Shape Theory layer by layer topologically and geometrically -- proposed in Part I -- is now addressed for 4 points in 1-$d$. Topological shape space graphs are far more complex here, whereas metric shape spaces…
A suite of relational notions of shape are presented at the level of configuration space geometry, with corresponding new theories of shape mechanics and shape statistics. These further generalize two quite well known examples: --1)…
Kendall's Similarity Shape Theory for constellations of N points in the carrier space $\mathbb{R}^d$ as quotiented by the similarity group was developed for use in Probability and Statistics. It was subsequently shown to reside within…
This paper considers passing from the usual $\mathbb{R}^d$ model of absolute space to $\mathbb{S}^d$ at the level of relational particle models. Both approaches' $d = 1$ cases are rather simpler than their $d \geq 2$ cases, with $N$…
Relational particle dynamics include the dynamics of pure shape and cases in which absolute scale or absolute rotation are additionally meaningful. These are interesting as regards the absolute versus relative motion debate as well as…
We review the $N$-Body Problem in arbitrary dimension $d$ at the kinematical level, with modelling Background Independence in mind. In particular, we give a structural analysis of its reduced configuration spaces, decomposing this subject…
This is an innovative treatise on triangles, resting upon 1) 3-body problem techniques including mass-weighted relative Jacobi coordinates. 2) Part I's detailed layer-by-layer topological and geometrical study of Kendall-type shape spaces -…
Generally, quantum field theories can be thought as deformations away from conformal field theories. In this article, with a simple bottom up model assumed to possess a holographic description, we study a putative large N quantum field…
Shape Theory, together with Shape-and-Scale Theory, comprise Relational Theory. This consists of $N$-point models on a manifold $M$, for which some geometrical automorphism group $G$ is regarded as meaningless and is thus quotiented out…
The scale dependent effective average action for quantum gravity complies with the fundamental principle of Background Independence. Ultimately the background metric it formally depends on is selected self-consistently by means of a…
Scale invariance has received very little attention in physics. Nevertheless, it provides a natural conceptual foundation for a relational understanding of the universe, where absolute size loses meaning and only dimensionless ratios retain…
Shape inference is classically ill-posed, because it involves a map from the (2D) image domain to the (3D) world. Standard approaches regularize this problem by either assuming a prior on lighting and rendering or restricting the domain,…
We illustrate a physical situation in which topological symmetry, its breakdown, space-time uncertainty principle, and background independence may play an important role in constructing and understanding matrix models. First, we show that…
Relational particle models are useful toy models for quantum cosmology and the problem of time in quantum general relativity. This paper shows how to extend existing work on concrete examples of relational particle models in 1-d to include…