160 research outputs found
On the "renormalization" transformations induced by cycles of expansion and contraction in causal set cosmology
We study the ``renormalization group action'' induced by cycles of cosmic
expansion and contraction, within the context of a family of stochastic
dynamical laws for causal sets derived earlier. We find a line of fixed points
corresponding to the dynamics of transitive percolation, and we prove that
there exist no other fixed points and no cycles of length two or more. We also
identify an extensive ``basin of attraction'' of the fixed points but find that
it does not exhaust the full parameter space. Nevertheless, we conjecture that
every trajectory is drawn toward the fixed point set in a suitably weakened
sense.Comment: 22 pages, 1 firgure, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Non-perturbative Lorentzian Quantum Gravity, Causality and Topology Change
We formulate a non-perturbative lattice model of two-dimensional Lorentzian
quantum gravity by performing the path integral over geometries with a causal
structure. The model can be solved exactly at the discretized level. Its
continuum limit coincides with the theory obtained by quantizing 2d continuum
gravity in proper-time gauge, but it disagrees with 2d gravity defined via
matrix models or Liouville theory. By allowing topology change of the compact
spatial slices (i.e. baby universe creation), one obtains agreement with the
matrix models and Liouville theory.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures, Latex, uses psfig.st
A Bell Inequality Analog in Quantum Measure Theory
One obtains Bell's inequalities if one posits a hypothetical joint
probability distribution, or {\it measure}, whose marginals yield the
probabilities produced by the spin measurements in question. The existence of a
joint measure is in turn equivalent to a certain causality condition known as
``screening off''. We show that if one assumes, more generally, a joint {\it
quantal measure}, or ``decoherence functional'', one obtains instead an
analogous inequality weaker by a factor of . The proof of this
``Tsirel'son inequality'' is geometrical and rests on the possibility of
associating a Hilbert space to any strongly positive quantal measure. These
results lead both to a {\it question}: ``Does a joint measure follow from some
quantal analog of `screening off'?'', and to the {\it observation} that
non-contextual hidden variables are viable in histories-based quantum
mechanics, even if they are excluded classically.Comment: 38 pages, TeX. Several changes and added comments to bring out the
meaning more clearly. Minor rewording and extra acknowledgements, now closer
to published versio
A numerical study of the correspondence between paths in a causal set and geodesics in the continuum
This paper presents the results of a computational study related to the
path-geodesic correspondence in causal sets. For intervals in flat spacetimes,
and in selected curved spacetimes, we present evidence that the longest maximal
chains (the longest paths) in the corresponding causal set intervals
statistically approach the geodesic for that interval in the appropriate
continuum limit.Comment: To the celebration of the 60th birthday of Rafael D. Sorki
Spacelike distance from discrete causal order
Any discrete approach to quantum gravity must provide some prescription as to
how to deduce continuum properties from the discrete substructure. In the
causal set approach it is straightforward to deduce timelike distances, but
surprisingly difficult to extract spacelike distances, because of the unique
combination of discreteness with local Lorentz invariance in that approach. We
propose a number of methods to overcome this difficulty, one of which
reproduces the spatial distance between two points in a finite region of
Minkowski space. We provide numerical evidence that this definition can be used
to define a `spatial nearest neighbor' relation on a causal set, and conjecture
that this can be exploited to define the length of `continuous curves' in
causal sets which are approximated by curved spacetime. This provides evidence
in support of the ``Hauptvermutung'' of causal sets.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figures, revtex4; journal versio
Spatial Hypersurfaces in Causal Set Cosmology
Within the causal set approach to quantum gravity, a discrete analog of a
spacelike region is a set of unrelated elements, or an antichain. In the
continuum approximation of the theory, a moment-of-time hypersurface is well
represented by an inextendible antichain. We construct a richer structure
corresponding to a thickening of this antichain containing non-trivial
geometric and topological information. We find that covariant observables can
be associated with such thickened antichains and transitions between them, in
classical stochastic growth models of causal sets. This construction highlights
the difference between the covariant measure on causal set cosmology and the
standard sum-over-histories approach: the measure is assigned to completed
histories rather than to histories on a restricted spacetime region. The
resulting re-phrasing of the sum-over-histories may be fruitful in other
approaches to quantum gravity.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages, 2 figure
Dynamically Triangulating Lorentzian Quantum Gravity
Fruitful ideas on how to quantize gravity are few and far between. In this
paper, we give a complete description of a recently introduced non-perturbative
gravitational path integral whose continuum limit has already been investigated
extensively in d less than 4, with promising results. It is based on a
simplicial regularization of Lorentzian space-times and, most importantly,
possesses a well-defined, non-perturbative Wick rotation. We present a detailed
analysis of the geometric and mathematical properties of the discretized model
in d=3,4. This includes a derivation of Lorentzian simplicial manifold
constraints, the gravitational actions and their Wick rotation. We define a
transfer matrix for the system and show that it leads to a well-defined
self-adjoint Hamiltonian. In view of numerical simulations, we also suggest
sets of Lorentzian Monte Carlo moves. We demonstrate that certain pathological
phases found previously in Euclidean models of dynamical triangulations cannot
be realized in the Lorentzian case.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figure
Effective Field Theory, Black Holes, and the Cosmological Constant
Bekenstein has proposed the bound S < pi M_P^2 L^2 on the total entropy S in
a volume L^3. This non-extensive scaling suggests that quantum field theory
breaks down in large volume. To reconcile this breakdown with the success of
local quantum field theory in describing observed particle phenomenology, we
propose a relationship between UV and IR cutoffs such that an effective field
theory should be a good description of Nature. We discuss implications for the
cosmological constant problem. We find a limitation on the accuracy which can
be achieved by conventional effective field theory: for example, the minimal
correction to (g-2) for the electron from the constrained IR and UV cutoffs is
larger than the contribution from the top quark.Comment: 5 pages, no figures minor clarifications, refs adde
Stable Homology as an Indicator of Manifoldlikeness in Causal Set Theory
We present a computational tool that can be used to obtain the "spatial"
homology groups of a causal set. Localisation in the causal set is seeded by an
inextendible antichain, which is the analog of a spacelike hypersurface, and a
one parameter family of nerve simplicial complexes is constructed by
"thickening" this antichain. The associated homology groups can then be
calculated using existing homology software, and their behaviour studied as a
function of the thickening parameter. Earlier analytical work showed that for
an inextendible antichain in a causal set which can be approximated by a
globally hyperbolic spacetime region, there is a one parameter sub-family of
these simplicial complexes which are homological to the continuum, provided the
antichain satisfies certain conditions. Using causal sets that are approximated
by a set of 2d spacetimes our numerical analysis suggests that these conditions
are generically satisfied by inextendible antichains. In both 2d and 3d
simulations, as the thickening parameter is increased, the continuum homology
groups tend to appear as the first region in which the homology is constant, or
"stable" above the discreteness scale. Below this scale, the homology groups
fluctuate rapidly as a function of the thickening parameter. This provides a
necessary though not sufficient criterion to test for manifoldlikeness of a
causal set.Comment: Latex, 46 pages, 43 .eps figures, v2 numerous changes to content and
presentatio
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