1,114 research outputs found
Consistent discretizations: the Gowdy spacetimes
We apply the consistent discretization scheme to general relativity
particularized to the Gowdy space-times. This is the first time the framework
has been applied in detail in a non-linear generally-covariant gravitational
situation with local degrees of freedom. We show that the scheme can be
correctly used to numerically evolve the space-times. We show that the
resulting numerical schemes are convergent and preserve approximately the
constraints as expected.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Semi-classical limit and minimum decoherence in the Conditional Probability Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
The Conditional Probability Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics replaces the
abstract notion of time used in standard Quantum Mechanics by the time that can
be read off from a physical clock. The use of physical clocks leads to apparent
non-unitary and decoherence. Here we show that a close approximation to
standard Quantum Mechanics can be recovered from conditional Quantum Mechanics
for semi-classical clocks, and we use these clocks to compute the minimum
decoherence predicted by the Conditional Probability Interpretation.Comment: 8 pages, references adde
Consistent discretization and loop quantum geometry
We apply the ``consistent discretization'' approach to general relativity
leaving the spatial slices continuous. The resulting theory is free of the
diffeomorphism and Hamiltonian constraints, but one can impose the
diffeomorphism constraint to reduce its space of solutions and the constraint
is preserved exactly under the discrete evolution. One ends up with a theory
that has as physical space what is usually considered the kinematical space of
loop quantum geometry, given by diffeomorphism invariant spin networks endowed
with appropriate rigorously defined diffeomorphism invariant measures and inner
products. The dynamics can be implemented as a unitary transformation and the
problem of time explicitly solved or at least reduced to as a numerical
problem. We exhibit the technique explicitly in 2+1 dimensional gravity.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, no figure
Finite, diffeomorphism invariant observables in quantum gravity
Two sets of spatially diffeomorphism invariant operators are constructed in
the loop representation formulation of quantum gravity. This is done by
coupling general relativity to an anti- symmetric tensor gauge field and using
that field to pick out sets of surfaces, with boundaries, in the spatial three
manifold. The two sets of observables then measure the areas of these surfaces
and the Wilson loops for the self-dual connection around their boundaries. The
operators that represent these observables are finite and background
independent when constructed through a proper regularization procedure.
Furthermore, the spectra of the area operators are discrete so that the
possible values that one can obtain by a measurement of the area of a physical
surface in quantum gravity are valued in a discrete set that includes integral
multiples of half the Planck area. These results make possible the construction
of a correspondence between any three geometry whose curvature is small in
Planck units and a diffeomorphism invariant state of the gravitational and
matter fields. This correspondence relies on the approximation of the classical
geometry by a piecewise flat Regge manifold, which is then put in
correspondence with a diffeomorphism invariant state of the gravity-matter
system in which the matter fields specify the faces of the triangulation and
the gravitational field is in an eigenstate of the operators that measure their
areas.Comment: Latex, no figures, 30 pages, SU-GP-93/1-
How the Jones Polynomial Gives Rise to Physical States of Quantum General Relativity
Solutions to both the diffeomorphism and the hamiltonian constraint of
quantum gravity have been found in the loop representation, which is based on
Ashtekar's new variables. While the diffeomorphism constraint is easily solved
by considering loop functionals which are knot invariants, there remains the
puzzle why several of the known knot invariants are also solutions to the
hamiltonian constraint. We show how the Jones polynomial gives rise to an
infinite set of solutions to all the constraints of quantum gravity thereby
illuminating the structure of the space of solutions and suggesting the
existance of a deep connection between quantum gravity and knot theory at a
dynamical level.Comment: 7p
Dirac-like approach for consistent discretizations of classical constrained theories
We analyze the canonical treatment of classical constrained mechanical
systems formulated with a discrete time. We prove that under very general
conditions, it is possible to introduce nonsingular canonical transformations
that preserve the constraint surface and the Poisson or Dirac bracket
structure. The conditions for the preservation of the constraints are more
stringent than in the continuous case and as a consequence some of the
continuum constraints become second class upon discretization and need to be
solved by fixing their associated Lagrange multipliers. The gauge invariance of
the discrete theory is encoded in a set of arbitrary functions that appear in
the generating function of the evolution equations. The resulting scheme is
general enough to accommodate the treatment of field theories on the lattice.
This paper attempts to clarify and put on sounder footing a discretization
technique that has already been used to treat a variety of systems, including
Yang--Mills theories, BF-theory and general relativity on the lattice.Comment: 11 pages, RevTe
Consistent canonical quantization of general relativity in the space of Vassiliev knot invariants
We present a quantization of the Hamiltonian and diffeomorphism constraint of
canonical quantum gravity in the spin network representation. The novelty
consists in considering a space of wavefunctions based on the Vassiliev knot
invariants. The constraints are finite, well defined, and reproduce at the
level of quantum commutators the Poisson algebra of constraints of the
classical theory. A similar construction can be carried out in 2+1 dimensions
leading to the correct quantum theory.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, one figur
Fundamental decoherence from relational time in discrete quantum gravity: Galilean covariance
We have recently argued that if one introduces a relational time in quantum
mechanics and quantum gravity, the resulting quantum theory is such that pure
states evolve into mixed states. The rate at which states decohere depends on
the energy of the states. There is therefore the question of how this can be
reconciled with Galilean invariance. More generally, since the relational
description is based on objects that are not Dirac observables, the issue of
covariance is of importance in the formalism as a whole. In this note we work
out an explicit example of a totally constrained, generally covariant system of
non-relativistic particles that shows that the formula for the relational
conditional probability is a Galilean scalar and therefore the decoherence rate
is invariant.Comment: 10 pages, RevTe
The Extended Loop Group: An Infinite Dimensional Manifold Associated with the Loop Space
A set of coordinates in the non parametric loop-space is introduced. We show
that these coordinates transform under infinite dimensional linear
representations of the diffeomorphism group. An extension of the group of loops
in terms of these objects is proposed. The enlarged group behaves locally as an
infinite dimensional Lie group. Ordinary loops form a subgroup of this group.
The algebraic properties of this new mathematical structure are analized in
detail. Applications of the formalism to field theory, quantum gravity and knot
theory are considered.Comment: The resubmited paper contains the title and abstract, that were
omitted in the previous version. 42 pages, report IFFI/93.0
The physical hamiltonian in nonperturbative quantum gravity
A quantum hamiltonian which evolves the gravitational field according to time
as measured by constant surfaces of a scalar field is defined through a
regularization procedure based on the loop representation, and is shown to be
finite and diffeomorphism invariant. The problem of constructing this
hamiltonian is reduced to a combinatorial and algebraic problem which involves
the rearrangements of lines through the vertices of arbitrary graphs. This
procedure also provides a construction of the hamiltonian constraint as a
finite operator on the space of diffeomorphism invariant states as well as a
construction of the operator corresponding to the spatial volume of the
universe.Comment: Latex, 11 pages, no figures, CGPG/93/
- …