The century of the incomplete revolution: searching for general relativistic quantum field theory

In fundamental physics, this has been the century of quantum mechanics and general relativity. It has also been the century of the long search for a conceptual framework capable of embracing the astonishing features of the world that have been revealed by these two ``first pieces of a conceptual revolution''. I discuss the general requirements on the mathematics and some specific developments towards the construction of such a framework. Examples of covariant constructions of (simple) generally relativistic quantum field theories have been obtained as topological quantum field theories, in nonperturbative zero-dimensional string theory and its higher dimensional generalizations, and as spin foam models. A canonical construction of a general relativistic quantum field theory is provided by loop quantum gravity. Remarkably, all these diverse approaches have turn out to be related, suggesting an intriguing general picture of general relativistic quantum physics.Comment: To appear in the Journal of Mathematical Physics 2000 Special Issu

Compatibility of radial, Lorenz and harmonic gauges

We observe that the radial gauge can be consistently imposed \emph{together} with the Lorenz gauge in Maxwell theory, and with the harmonic traceless gauge in linearized general relativity. This simple observation has relevance for some recent developments in quantum gravity where the radial gauge is implicitly utilized.Comment: 9 pages, minor changes in the bibliograph

Loop Quantum Cosmology in Bianchi Type I Models: Analytical Investigation

The comprehensive formulation for loop quantum cosmology in the spatially flat, isotropic model was recently constructed. In this paper, the methods are extended to the anisotropic Bianchi I cosmology. Both the precursor and the improved strategies are applied and the expected results are established: (i) the scalar field again serves as an internal clock and is treated as emergent time; (ii) the total Hamiltonian constraint is derived by imposing the fundamental discreteness and gives the evolution as a difference equation; and (iii) the physical Hilbert space, Dirac observables and semi-classical states are constructed rigorously. It is also shown that the state in the kinematical Hilbert space associated with the classical singularity is decoupled in the difference evolution equation, indicating that the big bounce may take place when any of the area scales undergoes the vanishing behavior. The investigation affirms the robustness of the framework used in the isotropic model by enlarging its domain of validity and provides foundations to conduct the detailed numerical analysis.Comment: 53 pages, 2 figures; more typos corrected; HyperTeX enable

A simple background-independent hamiltonian quantum model

We study formulation and probabilistic interpretation of a simple general-relativistic hamiltonian quantum system. The system has no unitary evolution in background time. The quantum theory yields transition probabilities between measurable quantities (partial observables). These converge to the classical predictions in the $\hbar\to 0$ limit. Our main tool is the kernel of the projector on the solutions of Wheeler-deWitt equation, which we analyze in detail. It is a real quantity, which can be seen as a propagator that propagates "forward" as well as "backward" in a local parameter time. Individual quantum states, on the other hand, may contain only "forward propagating" components. The analysis sheds some light on the interpretation of background independent transition amplitudes in quantum gravity

Relational evolution of the degrees of freedom of generally covariant quantum theories

We study the classical and quantum dynamics of generally covariant theories with vanishing a Hamiltonian and with a finite number of degrees of freedom. In particular, the geometric meaning of the full solution of the relational evolution of the degrees of freedom is displayed, which means the determination of the total number of evolving constants of motion required. Also a method to find evolving constants is proposed. The generalized Heinsenberg picture needs M time variables, as opposed to the Heisenberg picture of standard quantum mechanics where one time variable t is enough. As an application, we study the parameterized harmonic oscillator and the SL(2,R) model with one physical degree of freedom that mimics the constraint structure of general relativity where a Schrodinger equation emerges in its quantum dynamics.Comment: 25 pages, no figures, Latex file. Revised versio

Implications of the gauge-fixing in Loop Quantum Cosmology

The restriction to invariant connections in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker space-time is discussed via the analysis of the Dirac brackets associated with the corresponding gauge fixing. This analysis allows us to establish the proper correspondence between reduced and un-reduced variables. In this respect, it is outlined how the holonomy-flux algebra coincides with the one of Loop Quantum Gravity if edges are parallel to simplicial vectors and the quantization of the model is performed via standard techniques by restricting admissible paths. Within this scheme, the discretization of the area spectrum is emphasized. Then, the role of the diffeomorphisms generator in reduced phase-space is investigated and it is clarified how it implements homogeneity on quantum states, which are defined over cubical knots. Finally, the perspectives for a consistent dynamical treatment are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review

The Evolution of Λ\Lambda Black Holes in the Mini-Superspace Approximation of Loop Quantum Gravity

Using the improved quantization technique to the mini-superspace approximation of loop quantum gravity, we study the evolution of black holes supported by a cosmological constant. The addition of a cosmological constant allows for classical solutions with planar, cylindrical, toroidal and higher genus black holes. Here we study the quantum analog of these space-times. In all scenarios studied, the singularity present in the classical counter-part is avoided in the quantized version and is replaced by a bounce, and in the late evolution, a series of less severe bounces. Interestingly, although there are differences during the evolution between the various symmetries and topologies, the evolution on the other side of the bounce asymptotes to space-times of Nariai-type, with the exception of the planar black hole analyzed here, whose $T$-$R$=constant subspaces seem to continue expanding in the long term evolution. For the other cases, Nariai-type universes are attractors in the quantum evolution, albeit with different parameters. We study here the quantum evolution of each symmetry in detail.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures.V2 has typos corrected, references added, and a more careful analysis of the planar case. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Local spinfoam expansion in loop quantum cosmology

The quantum dynamics of the flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker and Bianchi I models defined by loop quantum cosmology have recently been translated into a spinfoam-like formalism. The construction is facilitated by the presence of a massless scalar field which is used as an internal clock. The implicit integration over the matter variable leads to a nonlocal spinfoam amplitude. In this paper we consider a vacuum Bianchi I universe and show that by choosing an appropriate regulator a spinfoam expansion can be obtained without selecting a clock variable and that the resulting spinfoam amplitude is local.Comment: 12 page

Loop quantum cosmology and the k = - 1 RW model

The loop quantization of the negatively curved k=-1 RW model poses several technical challenges. We show that the issues can be overcome and a successful quantization is possible that extends the results of the k=0,+1 models in a natural fashion. We discuss the resulting dynamics and show that for a universe consisting of a massless scalar field, a bounce is predicted in the backward evolution in accordance with the results of the k=0,+1 models. We also show that the model predicts a vacuum repulsion in the high curvature regime that would lead to a bounce even for matter with vanishing energy density. We finally comment on the inverse volume modifications of loop quantum cosmology and show that, as in the k=0 model, the modifications depend sensitively on the introduction of a length scale which a priori is independent of the curvature scale or a matter energy scale.Comment: Clarified some of the discussion and updated reference

Physics with nonperturbative quantum gravity: radiation from a quantum black hole

We study quantum gravitational effects on black hole radiation, using loop quantum gravity. Bekenstein and Mukhanov have recently considered the modifications caused by quantum gravity on Hawking's thermal black-hole radiation. Using a simple ansatz for the eigenstates the area, they have obtained the intriguing result that the quantum properties of geometry affect the radiation considerably, yielding a definitely non-thermal spectrum. Here, we replace the simple ansatz employed by Bekenstein and Mukhanov with the actual eigenstates of the area, computed using the loop representation of quantum gravity. We derive the emission spectra, using a classic result in number theory by Hardy and Ramanujan. Disappointingly, we do not recover the Bekenstein-Mukhanov spectrum, but --effectively-- a Hawking's thermal spectrum. The Bekenstein-Mukhanov result is therefore likely to be an artefact of the naive ansatz, rather than a robust result. The result is an example of concrete (although somewhat disappointing) application of nonperturbative quantum gravity.Comment: 4 pages, latex-revtex, no figure