210 research outputs found
Polymer quantization, singularity resolution and the 1/r^2 potential
We present a polymer quantization of the -lambda/r^2 potential on the
positive real line and compute numerically the bound state eigenenergies in
terms of the dimensionless coupling constant lambda. The singularity at the
origin is handled in two ways: first, by regularizing the potential and
adopting either symmetric or antisymmetric boundary conditions; second, by
keeping the potential unregularized but allowing the singularity to be balanced
by an antisymmetric boundary condition. The results are compared to the
semiclassical limit of the polymer theory and to the conventional Schrodinger
quantization on L_2(R_+). The various quantization schemes are in excellent
agreement for the highly excited states but differ for the low-lying states,
and the polymer spectrum is bounded below even when the Schrodinger spectrum is
not. We find as expected that for the antisymmetric boundary condition the
regularization of the potential is redundant: the polymer quantum theory is
well defined even with the unregularized potential and the regularization of
the potential does not significantly affect the spectrum.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX including 7 figures. v2: analytic bounds improved;
references adde
Uniform discretizations: a quantization procedure for totally constrained systems including gravity
We present a new method for the quantization of totally constrained systems
including general relativity. The method consists in constructing discretized
theories that have a well defined and controlled continuum limit. The discrete
theories are constraint-free and can be readily quantized. This provides a
framework where one can introduce a relational notion of time and that
nevertheless approximates in a well defined fashion the theory of interest. The
method is equivalent to the group averaging procedure for many systems where
the latter makes sense and provides a generalization otherwise. In the
continuum limit it can be shown to contain, under certain assumptions, the
``master constraint'' of the ``Phoenix project''. It also provides a
correspondence principle with the classical theory that does not require to
consider the semiclassical limit.Comment: 4 pages, Revte
Loop quantization of spherically symmetric midi-superspaces
We quantize the exterior of spherically symmetric vacuum space-times using a
midi-superspace reduction within the Ashtekar new variables. Through a partial
gauge fixing we eliminate the diffeomorphism constraint and are left with a
Hamiltonian constraint that is first class. We complete the quantization in the
loop representation. We also use the model to discuss the issues that will
arise in more general contexts in the ``uniform discretization'' approach to
the dynamics.Comment: 18 pages, RevTex, no figures, some typos corrected, published
version, for some reason a series of figures were incorrectly added to the
previous versio
Gauge Is More Than Mathematical Redundancy
Physical systems may couple to other systems through variables that are not gauge invariant. When we split a gauge system into two subsystems, the gauge-invariant variables of the two subsystems have less information than the gauge-invariant variables of the original system; the missing information regards degrees of freedom that express relations between the subsystems. All this shows that gauge invariance is a formalization of the relational nature of physical degrees of freedom. The recent developments on boundary variables and boundary charges are clarified by this observation
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
The volume operator in covariant quantum gravity
A covariant spin-foam formulation of quantum gravity has been recently
developed, characterized by a kinematics which appears to match well the one of
canonical loop quantum gravity. In particular, the geometrical observable
giving the area of a surface has been shown to be the same as the one in loop
quantum gravity. Here we discuss the volume observable. We derive the volume
operator in the covariant theory, and show that it matches the one of loop
quantum gravity, as does the area. We also reconsider the implementation of the
constraints that defines the model: we derive in a simple way the boundary
Hilbert space of the theory from a suitable form of the classical constraints,
and show directly that all constraints vanish weakly on this space.Comment: 10 pages. Version 2: proof extended to gamma > 1
Spinning Loop Black Holes
In this paper we construct four Kerr-like spacetimes starting from the loop
black hole Schwarzschild solutions (LBH) and applying the Newman-Janis
transformation. In previous papers the Schwarzschild LBH was obtained replacing
the Ashtekar connection with holonomies on a particular graph in a
minisuperspace approximation which describes the black hole interior. Starting
from this solution, we use a Newman-Janis transformation and we specialize to
two different and natural complexifications inspired from the complexifications
of the Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstrom metrics. We show explicitly that
the space-times obtained in this way are singularity free and thus there are no
naked singularities. We show that the transformation move, if any, the
causality violating regions of the Kerr metric far from r=0. We study the
space-time structure with particular attention to the horizons shape. We
conclude the paper with a discussion on a regular Reissner-Nordstrom black hole
derived from the Schwarzschild LBH and then applying again the Newmann-Janis
transformation.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figure
Space-Time Structure of Loop Quantum Black Hole
In this paper we have improved the semiclassical analysis of loop quantum
black hole (LQBH) in the conservative approach of constant polymeric parameter.
In particular we have focused our attention on the space-time structure. We
have introduced a very simple modification of the spherically symmetric
Hamiltonian constraint in its holonomic version. The new quantum constraint
reduces to the classical constraint when the polymeric parameter goes to
zero.Using this modification we have obtained a large class of semiclassical
solutions parametrized by a generic function of the polymeric parameter. We
have found that only a particular choice of this function reproduces the black
hole solution with the correct asymptotic flat limit. In r=0 the semiclassical
metric is regular and the Kretschmann invariant has a maximum peaked in
L-Planck. The radial position of the pick does not depend on the black hole
mass and the polymeric parameter. The semiclassical solution is very similar to
the Reissner-Nordstrom metric. We have constructed the Carter-Penrose diagrams
explicitly, giving a causal description of the space-time and its maximal
extension. The LQBH metric interpolates between two asymptotically flat
regions, the r to infinity region and the r to 0 region. We have studied the
thermodynamics of the semiclassical solution. The temperature, entropy and the
evaporation process are regular and could be defined independently from the
polymeric parameter. We have studied the particular metric when the polymeric
parameter goes towards to zero. This metric is regular in r=0 and has only one
event horizon in r = 2m. The Kretschmann invariant maximum depends only on
L-Planck. The polymeric parameter does not play any role in the black hole
singularity resolution. The thermodynamics is the same.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figure
Many-nodes/many-links spinfoam: the homogeneous and isotropic case
I compute the Lorentzian EPRL/FK/KKL spinfoam vertex amplitude for regular
graphs, with an arbitrary number of links and nodes, and coherent states peaked
on a homogeneous and isotropic geometry. This form of the amplitude can be
applied for example to a dipole with an arbitrary number of links or to the
4-simplex given by the compete graph on 5 nodes. All the resulting amplitudes
have the same support, independently of the graph used, in the large j (large
volume) limit. This implies that they all yield the Friedmann equation: I show
this in the presence of the cosmological constant. This result indicates that
in the semiclassical limit quantum corrections in spinfoam cosmology do not
come from just refining the graph, but rather from relaxing the large j limit.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
- âŠ