Coherent State Approach to Quantum Clocks

The ``problem of time'' has been a pressing issue in quantum gravity for some time. To help understand this problem, Rovelli proposed a model of a two harmonic oscillators system where one of the oscillators can be thought of as a ``clock'' for the other oscillator thus giving a natural time reference frame for the system. Recently, the author has constructed an explicit form for the coherent states on the reduced phase space of this system in terms of Klauder's projection operator approach. In this paper, by using coherent state representations and other tools from coherent state quantization, I investigate the construction of gauge invariant operators on this reduced phase space, and the ability to use a quantum oscillator as a ``clock.''Comment: 13 pages, Late

Coherent State Approach to Time Reparameterization Invariant Systems

For many years coherent states have been a useful tool for understanding fundamental questions in quantum mechanics. Recently, there has been work on developing a consistent way of including constraints into the phase space path integral that naturally arises in coherent state quantization. This new approach has many advantages over other approaches, including the lack of any Gribov problems, the independence of gauge fixing, and the ability to handle second-class constraints without any ambiguous determinants. In this paper, I use this new approach to study some examples of time reparameterization invariant systems, which are of special interest in the field of quantum gravity

Numerical indications on the semiclassical limit of the flipped vertex

We introduce a technique for testing the semiclassical limit of a quantum gravity vertex amplitude. The technique is based on the propagation of a semiclassical wave packet. We apply this technique to the newly introduced "flipped" vertex in loop quantum gravity, in order to test the intertwiner dependence of the vertex. Under some drastic simplifications, we find very preliminary, but surprisingly good numerical evidence for the correct classical limit.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure

Physical boundary Hilbert space and volume operator in the Lorentzian new spin-foam theory

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 this paper we reconsider the implementation of the constraints that defines the model. We define in a simple way the boundary Hilbert space of the theory, introducing a slight modification of the embedding of the SU(2) representations into the SL(2,C) ones. We then show directly that all constraints vanish on this space in a weak sense. The vanishing is exact (and not just in the large quantum number limit.) We also generalize the definition of the volume operator in the spinfoam model to the Lorentzian signature, and show that it matches the one of loop quantum gravity, as does in the Euclidean case.Comment: 11 page

Reparameterization invariants for anisotropic Bianchi I cosmology with a massless scalar source

Intrinsic time-dependent invariants are constructed for classical, flat, homogeneous, anisotropic cosmology with a massless scalar material source. Invariance under the time reparameterization-induced canonical symmetry group is displayed explicitly.Comment: 28 pages, to appear in General Relativity and Gravitation. Substantial revisions: added foundational overview section 2, chose new intrinsic time variable, worked with dimensionless variables, added appendix with comparison and criticism of other approache

Relational time in generally covariant quantum systems: four models

We analize the relational quantum evolution of generally covariant systems in terms of Rovelli's evolving constants of motion and the generalized Heisenberg picture. In order to have a well defined evolution, and a consistent quantum theory, evolving constants must be self-adjoint operators. We show that this condition imposes strong restrictions to the choices of the clock variables. We analize four cases. The first one is non- relativistic quantum mechanics in parametrized form. We show that, for the free particle case, the standard choice of time is the only one leading to self-adjoint evolving constants. Secondly, we study the relativistic case. We show that the resulting quantum theory is the free particle representation of the Klein Gordon equation in which the position is a perfectly well defined quantum observable. The admissible choices of clock variables are the ones leading to space-like simultaneity surfaces. In order to mimic the structure of General Relativity we study the SL(2R) model with two Hamiltonian constraints. The evolving constants depend in this case on three independent variables. We show that it is possible to find clock variables and inner products leading to a consistent quantum theory. Finally, we discuss the quantization of a constrained model having a compact constraint surface. All the models considered may be consistently quantized, although some of them do not admit any time choice such that the equal time surfaces are transversal to the orbits.Comment: 18 pages, revtex fil

Radiation of Quantized Black Hole

The maximum entropy of a quantized surface is demonstrated to be proportional to the surface area in the classical limit. The general structure of the horizon spectrum and the value of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter are found. The discrete spectrum of thermal radiation of a black hole fits naturally the Wien profile. The natural widths of the lines are very small as compared to the distances between them. The total intensity of the thermal radiation is calculated.Comment: 11 pages; few comments and a reference added; one more reference and a comment on it added; a note added that the natural widths of the lines are very small as compared to the distances between the

Gravitational collapse in loop quantum gravity

In this paper we study the gravitational collapse in loop quantum gravity. We consider the space-time region inside the Schwarzschild black hole event horizon and we divide this region in two parts, the first one where the matter (dust matter) is localized and the other (outside) where the metric is Kantowski-Sachs type. We calculate the state solving Hamiltonian constraint and we obtain a set of three difference equations that give a regular and natural evolution beyond the classical singularity point in "r=0" localized.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Seeking the Loop Quantum Gravity Barbero-Immirzi Parameter and Field in 4D, N\cal N = 1 Supergravity

We embed the Loop Quantum Gravity Barbero-Immirzi parameter and field within an action describing 4D, $\cal N$ = 1 supergravity and thus within a Low Energy Effective Action of Superstring/M-Theory. We use the fully gauge-covariant description of supergravity in (curved) superspace. The gravitational constant is replaced with the vacuum expectation value of a scalar field, which in local supersymmetry is promoted to a complex, covariantly chiral scalar superfield. The imaginary part of this superfield couples to a supersymmetric Holst term. The Holst term also serves as a starting point in the Loop Quantum Gravity action. This suggest the possibility of a relation between Loop Quantum Gravity and supersymmetric string theory, where the Barbero-Immirzi parameter and field of the former play the role of the supersymmetric axion in the latter. Adding matter fermions in Loop Quantum Gravity may require the extension of the Holst action through the Nieh-Yan topological invariant, while in pure, matter-free supergravity their supersymmetric extensions are the same. We show that, when the Barbero-Immirzi parameter is promoted to a field in the context of 4D supergravity, it is equivalent to adding a dynamical complex chiral (dilaton-axion) superfield with a non-trivial kinetic term (or K\"ahler potential), coupled to supergravity.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure. Replaced with accepted version in Phys. Rev.

A note about the quantum of area in a non-commutative space

In this note we show that in a two-dimensional non-commutative space the area operator is quantized, this outcome is compared with the result obtained by Loop Quantum Gravity methods.Comment: 6 pages, references added, minor correction