1,814 research outputs found
Complexifier Coherent States for Quantum General Relativity
Recently, substantial amount of activity in Quantum General Relativity (QGR)
has focussed on the semiclassical analysis of the theory. In this paper we want
to comment on two such developments: 1) Polymer-like states for Maxwell theory
and linearized gravity constructed by Varadarajan which use much of the Hilbert
space machinery that has proved useful in QGR and 2) coherent states for QGR,
based on the general complexifier method, with built-in semiclassical
properties. We show the following: A) Varadarajan's states {\it are}
complexifier coherent states. This unifies all states constructed so far under
the general complexifier principle. B) Ashtekar and Lewandowski suggested a
non-Abelean generalization of Varadarajan's states to QGR which, however, are
no longer of the complexifier type. We construct a new class of non-Abelean
complexifiers which come close to the one underlying Varadarajan's
construction. C) Non-Abelean complexifiers close to Varadarajan's induce new
types of Hilbert spaces which do not support the operator algebra of QGR. The
analysis suggests that if one sticks to the present kinematical framework of
QGR and if kinematical coherent states are at all useful, then normalizable,
graph dependent states must be used which are produced by the complexifier
method as well. D) Present proposals for states with mildened graph dependence,
obtained by performing a graph average, do not approximate well coordinate
dependent observables. However, graph dependent states, whether averaged or
not, seem to be well suited for the semiclassical analysis of QGR with respect
to coordinate independent operators.Comment: Latex, 54 p., no figure
Quantum Spin Dynamics VIII. The Master Constraint
Recently the Master Constraint Programme (MCP) for Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG)
was launched which replaces the infinite number of Hamiltonian constraints by a
single Master constraint. The MCP is designed to overcome the complications
associated with the non -- Lie -- algebra structure of the Dirac algebra of
Hamiltonian constraints and was successfully tested in various field theory
models. For the case of 3+1 gravity itself, so far only a positive quadratic
form for the Master Constraint Operator was derived. In this paper we close
this gap and prove that the quadratic form is closable and thus stems from a
unique self -- adjoint Master Constraint Operator. The proof rests on a simple
feature of the general pattern according to which Hamiltonian constraints in
LQG are constructed and thus extends to arbitrary matter coupling and holds for
any metric signature. With this result the existence of a physical Hilbert
space for LQG is established by standard spectral analysis.Comment: 19p, no figure
Testing the Master Constraint Programme for Loop Quantum Gravity V. Interacting Field Theories
This is the final fifth paper in our series of five in which we test the
Master Constraint Programme for solving the Hamiltonian constraint in Loop
Quantum Gravity. Here we consider interacting quantum field theories,
specificlly we consider the non -- Abelean Gauss constraints of Einstein --
Yang -- Mills theory and 2+1 gravity. Interestingly, while Yang -- Mills theory
in 4D is not yet rigorously defined as an ordinary (Wightman) quantum field
theory on Minkowski space, in background independent quantum field theories
such as Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) this might become possible by working in a
new, background independent representation.Comment: 20 pages, no figure
The Proca-field in Loop Quantum Gravity
In this paper we investigate the Proca-field in the framework of Loop Quantum
Gravity. It turns out that the methods developed there can be applied to the
symplectically embedded Proca-field, giving a rigorous, consistent,
non-perturbative quantization of the theory. This can be achieved by
introducing a scalar field, which has completely different properties than the
one used in spontaneous symmetry breaking. The analysis of the kernel of the
Hamiltonian suggests that the mass term in the quantum theory has a different
role than in the classical theory.Comment: 15 pages. v2: 19 pages, amended sections 2 and 6, references added
v3: 20 pages, amended section 6 and minor correction
Testing the Master Constraint Programme for Loop Quantum Gravity IV. Free Field Theories
This is the fourth paper in our series of five in which we test the Master
Constraint Programme for solving the Hamiltonian constraint in Loop Quantum
Gravity. We now move on to free field theories with constraints, namely Maxwell
theory and linearized gravity. Since the Master constraint involves squares of
constraint operator valued distributions, one has to be very careful in doing
that and we will see that the full flexibility of the Master Constraint
Programme must be exploited in order to arrive at sensible results.Comment: 23 pages, no figure
Testing the Master Constraint Programme for Loop Quantum Gravity II. Finite Dimensional Systems
This is the second paper in our series of five in which we test the Master
Constraint Programme for solving the Hamiltonian constraint in Loop Quantum
Gravity. In this work we begin with the simplest examples: Finite dimensional
models with a finite number of first or second class constraints, Abelean or
non -- Abelean, with or without structure functions.Comment: 23 pages, no figure
Algebraic Quantum Gravity (AQG) III. Semiclassical Perturbation Theory
In the two previous papers of this series we defined a new combinatorical
approach to quantum gravity, Algebraic Quantum Gravity (AQG). We showed that
AQG reproduces the correct infinitesimal dynamics in the semiclassical limit,
provided one incorrectly substitutes the non -- Abelean group SU(2) by the
Abelean group in the calculations. The mere reason why that
substitution was performed at all is that in the non -- Abelean case the volume
operator, pivotal for the definition of the dynamics, is not diagonisable by
analytical methods. This, in contrast to the Abelean case, so far prohibited
semiclassical computations. In this paper we show why this unjustified
substitution nevertheless reproduces the correct physical result: Namely, we
introduce for the first time semiclassical perturbation theory within AQG (and
LQG) which allows to compute expectation values of interesting operators such
as the master constraint as a power series in with error control. That
is, in particular matrix elements of fractional powers of the volume operator
can be computed with extremely high precision for sufficiently large power of
in the expansion. With this new tool, the non -- Abelean
calculation, although technically more involved, is then exactly analogous to
the Abelean calculation, thus justifying the Abelean analysis in retrospect.
The results of this paper turn AQG into a calculational discipline
QSD VI : Quantum Poincar\'e Algebra and a Quantum Positivity of Energy Theorem for Canonical Quantum Gravity
We quantize the generators of the little subgroup of the asymptotic
Poincar\'e group of Lorentzian four-dimensional canonical quantum gravity in
the continuum. In particular, the resulting ADM energy operator is densely
defined on an appropriate Hilbert space, symmetric and essentially
self-adjoint. Moreover, we prove a quantum analogue of the classical positivity
of energy theorem due to Schoen and Yau. The proof uses a certain technical
restriction on the space of states at spatial infinity which is suggested to us
given the asymptotically flat structure available. The theorem demonstrates
that several of the speculations regarding the stability of the theory,
recently spelled out by Smolin, are false once a quantum version of the
pre-assumptions underlying the classical positivity of energy theorem is
imposed in the quantum theory as well. The quantum symmetry algebra
corresponding to the generators of the little group faithfully represents the
classical algebra.Comment: 24p, LATE
Exploring the diffeomorphism invariant Hilbert space of a scalar field
As a toy model for the implementation of the diffeomorphism constraint, the
interpretation of the resulting states, and the treatment of ordering
ambiguities in loop quantum gravity, we consider the Hilbert space of spatially
diffeomorphism invariant states for a scalar field. We give a very explicit
formula for the scalar product on this space, and discuss its structure.
Then we turn to the quantization of a certain class of diffeomorphism
invariant quantities on that space, and discuss in detail the ordering issues
involved. On a technical level these issues bear some similarity to those
encountered in full loop quantum gravity.Comment: 20 pages, no figures; v3: corrected typos, added reference, some
clarifications added; version as published in CQ
Gauge Field Theory Coherent States (GCS) : I. General Properties
In this article we outline a rather general construction of diffeomorphism
covariant coherent states for quantum gauge theories.
By this we mean states , labelled by a point (A,E) in the
classical phase space, consisting of canonically conjugate pairs of connections
A and electric fields E respectively, such that (a) they are eigenstates of a
corresponding annihilation operator which is a generalization of A-iE smeared
in a suitable way, (b) normal ordered polynomials of generalized annihilation
and creation operators have the correct expectation value, (c) they saturate
the Heisenberg uncertainty bound for the fluctuations of and
(d) they do not use any background structure for their definition, that is,
they are diffeomorphism covariant.
This is the first paper in a series of articles entitled ``Gauge Field Theory
Coherent States (GCS)'' which aim at connecting non-perturbative quantum
general relativity with the low energy physics of the standard model. In
particular, coherent states enable us for the first time to take into account
quantum metrics which are excited {\it everywhere} in an asymptotically flat
spacetime manifold. The formalism introduced in this paper is immediately
applicable also to lattice gauge theory in the presence of a (Minkowski)
background structure on a possibly {\it infinite lattice}.Comment: 40 pages, LATEX, no figure
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