Spacetime Coarse Grainings in the Decoherent Histories Approach to Quantum Theory

We investigate the possibility of assigning consistent probabilities to sets of histories characterized by whether they enter a particular subspace of the Hilbert space of a closed system during a given time interval. In particular we investigate the case that this subspace is a region of the configuration space. This corresponds to a particular class of coarse grainings of spacetime regions. We consider the arrival time problem and the problem of time in reparametrization invariant theories as for example in canonical quantum gravity. Decoherence conditions and probabilities for those application are derived. The resulting decoherence condition does not depend on the explicit form of the restricted propagator that was problematic for generalizations such as application in quantum cosmology. Closely related is the problem of tunnelling time as well as the quantum Zeno effect. Some interpretational comments conclude, and we discuss the applicability of this formalism to deal with the arrival time problem.Comment: 23 pages, Few changes and added references in v

Consistent histories of systems and measurements in spacetime

Traditional interpretations of quantum theory in terms of wave function collapse are particularly unappealing when considering the universe as a whole, where there is no clean separation between classical observer and quantum system and where the description is inherently relativistic. As an alternative, the consistent histories approach provides an attractive "no collapse" interpretation of quantum physics. Consistent histories can also be linked to path-integral formulations that may be readily generalized to the relativistic case. A previous paper described how, in such a relativistic spacetime path formalism, the quantum history of the universe could be considered to be an eignestate of the measurements made within it. However, two important topics were not addressed in detail there: a model of measurement processes in the context of quantum histories in spacetime and a justification for why the probabilities for each possible cosmological eigenstate should follow Born's rule. The present paper addresses these topics by showing how Zurek's concepts of einselection and envariance can be applied in the context of relativistic spacetime and quantum histories. The result is a model of systems and subsystems within the universe and their interaction with each other and their environment.Comment: RevTeX 4; 37 pages; v2 is a revision in response to reviewer comments, connecting the discussion in the paper more closely to consistent history concepts; v3 has minor editorial corrections; accepted for publication in Foundations of Physics; v4 has a couple minor typographical correction

Quantum Cosmological Multidimensional Einstein-Yang-Mills Model in a R×S3×SdR \times S^3 \times S^d Topology

The quantum cosmological version of the multidimensional Einstein-Yang-Mills model in a $R \times S^3 \times S^d$ topology is studied in the framework of the Hartle-Hawking proposal. In contrast to previous work in the literature, we consider Yang-Mills field configurations with non-vanishing time-dependent components in both $S^3$ and $S^d$ spaces. We obtain stable compactifying solutions that do correspond to extrema of the Hartle-Hawking wave function of the Universe. Subsequently, we also show that the regions where 4-dimensional metric behaves classically or quantum mechanically (i.e. regions where the metric is Lorentzian or Euclidean) will depend on the number, $d$, of compact space dimensions.Comment: Plain Latex. Version that appeared in the October 15th, 1997 issue of Physical Review