Symmetries of the Classical Integrable Systems and 2-Dimensional Quantum Gravity: a ‘Map’

Abstract

We draw attention to the connections recently established by others between the classical integrable KdV and KP hierarchies in 1 + 1 and 2 + 1 dimensions respectively and the matrix models which relate to the partition functions of 2-dimensional (1 + 1 dimensional) quantum gravity. The symmetries of the classical KP hierarchy in 2 + 1 dimensions are fundamental to this connection.     

Chiral fermions in 2d quantum gravity

Two theories of chiral fermions coupled to different quantum gravities in two dimensions are studied. One employs Jackiw's ansatz for classical gravity by introducing an auxiliary scalar, the other is based on the induced quantum gravity of Polyakov, which has no classical analogue. By investigating a localized theory of the effective action we show that in both cases a limited number of fermions of either chirality may couple consistently. It is stressed that the Weyl variable has to be quantized properly, which is related to recent work done on non-critical strings.     

Exactly soluble diffeomorphism invariant theories

A class of diffeomorphism invariant theories is described for which the Hilbert space of quantum states can be explicitly constructed. These theories can be formulated in any dimension and include Witten's solution to 2+1 dimensional gravity as a special case. Higher dimensional generalizations exist which start with an action similar to the Einstein action inn dimensions. Many of these theories do not involve a spacetime metric and provide examples of topological quantum field theories. One is a version of Yang-Mills theory in which the only quantum states onS ³×R are the vacua. Finally it is shown that the three dimensional Chern-Simons theory (which Witten has shown is intimately connected with knot theory) arises naturally from a four dimensional topological gauge theory.On leave from the Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA     

Fermions in three-dimensional spinfoam quantum gravity

We study the coupling of massive fermions to the quantum mechanical dynamics of spacetime emerging from the spinfoam approach in three dimensions. We first recall the classical theory before constructing a spinfoam model of quantum gravity coupled to spinors. The technique used is based on a finite expansion in inverse fermion masses leading to the computation of the vacuum to vacuum transition amplitude of the theory. The path integral is derived as a sum over closed fermionic loops wrapping around the spinfoam. The effects of quantum torsion are realised as a modification of the intertwining operators assigned to the edges of the two-complex, in accordance with loop quantum gravity. The creation of non-trivial curvature is modelled by a modification of the pure gravity vertex amplitudes. The appendix contains a review of the geometrical and algebraic structures underlying the classical coupling of fermions to three dimensional gravity.     

The Schrödinger equation in quantum field theory

Some aspects of the Schrödinger equation in quantum field theory are considered in this article. The emphasis is on the Schrödinger functional equation for Yang-Mills theory, arising mainly out of Feynman's work on (2+1)-dimensional Yang-Mills theory, which he studied with a view to explaining the confinement of gluons. The author extended Feynman's work in two earlier papers, and the present article is partly a review of Feynman's and the author's work and some further extension of the latter. The primary motivation of this article is to suggest that considering the Schrödinger functional equation in the context of Yang-Mills theory may contribute significantly to the solution of the confinement and related problems, an aspect which, in the author's opinion, has not received the attention it deserves. The relation of this problem with certain others such as those of quarks, superconductivity, and quantum gravity is considered briefly, together with certain basic aspects of the formalism that may be of interest in their own right, especially for the beginner.Dedicated to Professor Fritz Rohrlich on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, May 12, 1991.     

Consistent canonical quantization of general relativity in the space of vassiliev 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 wave functions based on the Vassiliev 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.     

Gravity,Quantum Fields and Quantum Information: Problems with Classical Channel and Stochastic Theories

In recent years an increasing number of papers have attempted to mimic or supplant quantum field theory in discussions of issues related to gravity by the tools and through the perspective of quantum information theory, often in the context of alternative quantum theories. In this article, we point out three common problems in such treatments. First, we show that the notion of interactions mediated by an information channel is not, in general, equivalent to the treatment of interactions by quantum field theory. When used to describe gravity, this notion may lead to inconsistencies with general relativity. Second, we point out that in general one cannot replace a quantum field by a classical stochastic field, or mock up the effects of quantum fluctuations by that of classical stochastic sources (noises), because in so doing important quantum features such as coherence and entanglement will be left out. Third, we explain how under specific conditions semi-classical and stochastic theories indeed can be formulated from their quantum origins and play a role at certain regimes of interest.     

Quantum theory of dilaton gravity in 1+1 dimensions

We discuss the quantum theory of 1+1 dimensional dilaton gravity, which is an interesting model with features analogous to the spherically symmetric gravitational systems in 3+1 dimensions. The functional measures over the metrics and the dilaton field are explicitly evaluated and the diffeomorphism invariance is completely fixed in the conformal gauge by using the technique developed in two dimensional quantum gravity. We derive the Wheeler-DeWitt like equations as physical state conditions. In the ADM formalism the measures of fields are very ambiguous, but in our formalism they are explicitly defined. A singularity appears at ²=κ(>0), where and N is the number of matter fields. The final stage of the black hole evaporation corresponds to the region ²κ, where the Liouville term becomes important, which just comes from the measure of the metrics. If κ<0, the singularity disappears.     

The problems of quantum gravity

The effect of unitary inequivalence of different versions of the formalism of quantum gravity, according to the arbitrary choice of coordinate conditions, does not mean a violation of general covariance but a furcation of a single classical theory into several inequivalent, but also generally covariant quantum theories. We choose a version closely analogous to the theory of Proca, with a strong supplementary condition, leading to a quantum gravity with a cosmological term. However, it is only the bare but not necessarily the dressed cosmological term that has to be different from zero. Ordinary theory without the cosmological term may be obtained by renormalization.     

Bondi-Metzner-Sachs Symmetry,Holography on Null-surfaces and Area Proportionality of “Light-slice” Entropy

It is shown that certain kinds of behavior, which hitherto were expected to be characteristic for classical gravity and quantum field theory in curved spacetime, as the infinite dimensional Bondi-Metzner-Sachs symmetry, holography on event horizons and an area proportionality of entropy, have in fact an unnoticed presence in Minkowski QFT.     

Gravitational Gauge Interactions of Scalar Field

Quantum gauge theory of gravity is formulated based on gauge principle. Because the Lagrangian has strict local gravitational gauge symmetry, gravitational gauge theory is a perturbatively renormalizable quantum theory. Gravitational gauge interactions of scalar field are studied in this paper. In quantum gauge theory of gravity, scalar field minimal couples to gravitational field through gravitational gauge covariant derivative. Comparing the Lagrangian for scalar field in quantum gauge theory of gravity with the corresponding Lagrangian in quantum fields in curved space-time, the definition for metric in curved space-time in geometry picture of gravity can be obtained, which is expressed by gravitational gauge field. In classical level, the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian approaches are also discussed.     

Quantum field theory and the Jones polynomial

It is shown that 2+1 dimensional quantum Yang-Mills theory, with an action consisting purely of the Chern-Simons term, is exactly soluble and gives a natural framework for understanding the Jones polynomial of knot theory in three dimensional terms. In this version, the Jones polynomial can be generalized fromS ³ to arbitrary three manifolds, giving invariants of three manifolds that are computable from a surgery presentation. These results shed a surprising new light on conformal field theory in 1+1 dimensions.An expanded version of a lecture at the IAMP Congress, Swansea, July, 1988Research supported in part by NSF Grant No. 86-20266, and NSF Waterman Grant 88–17521     

Quantum collapse of dust shells in 2 + 1 gravity

This paper considers the quantum collapse of infinitesimally thin dust shells in 2 + 1 gravity. In 2 + 1 gravity a shell is no longer a sphere, but a ring of matter. The classical equation of motion of such shells in terms of variables defined on the shell has been considered by Peleg and Steif (Phys Rev D 51:3992, 1995), using the 2 + 1 version of the original formulation of Israel (Nuovo Cimento B 44:1, 1966), and Crisóstomo and Olea (Phys Rev D 69:104023, 2004), using canonical methods. The minisuperspace quantum problem can be reduced to that of a harmonic oscillator in terms of the curvature radius of the shell, which allows us to use well-known methods to find the motion of coherent wave packets that give the quantum collapse of the shell. Classically, as the radius of the shell falls below a certain point, a horizon forms. In the quantum problem one can define various quantities that give “indications” of horizon formation. Without a proper definition of a “horizon” in quantum gravity, these can be nothing but indications.     

On the meaning of a non-renormalizable theory of gravitation

The renormalizability of quantum gravity remains an open question while it has been established recently that quantum gravity in the presence of standard sources is non-renormalizable. In view of traditional confusion and ambiguities surrounding non-renormalizable quantum field theories, it has been felt that physical theories must be renormalizable. Recently a new, nonperturbative view of non-renormalizable theories has been suggested that may have relevance for various interactions including gravity and various sources. In a path integral approach to quantum field theory such a view attributes ‘hard cores’ in the space of field histories to non-renormalizable interactions. Just as with more familiar ‘hard cores’, turning off the interaction does not completely remove all effects of the potential. Consequently the interacting theory is not even continuously connected to the usual free theory, but rather to an alternative ‘pseudo-free’ theory that incorporates the vestiges of the ‘hard cores’. Some insight into what is the significance and interpretation of non-renormalizable interactions can be gleaned from exactly soluble models. Application of this philosophy of non-renormalizable interactions is discussed for the gravitational field in interaction with some standard sources.     

Time-dependent quantum scattering in 2+1 dimensional gravity

The propagation of a localized wave packet in the conical space-time created by a pointlike massive source in 2+1 dimensional gravity is analyzed. The scattering amplitude is determined and shown to be finite along the classical scattering directions due to interference between the scattered and the transmitted wave functions. The analogy with diffraction theory is emphasized.This work is supported in part by funds provided by the U. S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.) under cooperative agreement #DE-FC02-94ER40818.     

Quantum holonomy theory

We present quantum holonomy theory, which is a non‐perturbative theory of quantum gravity coupled to fermionic degrees of freedom. The theory is based on a ‐algebra that involves holonomy‐diffeo‐morphisms on a 3‐dimensional manifold and which encodes the canonical commutation relations of canonical quantum gravity formulated in terms of Ashtekar variables. Employing a Dirac type operator on the configuration space of Ashtekar connections we obtain a semi‐classical state and a kinematical Hilbert space via its GNS construction. We use the Dirac type operator, which provides a metric structure over the space of Ashtekar connections, to define a scalar curvature operator, from which we obtain a candidate for a Hamilton operator. We show that the classical Hamilton constraint of general relativity emerges from this in a semi‐classical limit and we then compute the operator constraint algebra. Also, we find states in the kinematical Hilbert space on which the expectation value of the Dirac type operator gives the Dirac Hamiltonian in a semi‐classical limit and thus provides a connection to fermionic quantum field theory. Finally, an almost‐commutative algebra emerges from the holonomy‐diffeomorphism algebra in the same limit.     

Renormalizable Quantum Gauge Theory of Gravity

The quantum gravity is formulated based on the principle of local gauge invariance. The model discussed in this paper has local gravitational gauge symmetry, and gravitational field is represented by gauge field. In the leading-order approximation, it gives out classical Newton's theory of gravity. In the first-order approximation and for vacuum, it gives out Einstein's general theory of relativity. This quantum gauge theory of gravity is a renormalizable quantum theory.