Realism,operationalism, and quantum mechanics

A comprehensive formal system is developed that amalgamates the operational and the realistic approaches to quantum mechanics. In this formalism, for example, a sharp distinction is made between events, operational propositions, and the properties of physical systems.     

Realism in quantum mechanics

We first present a realistic framework for quantum probability theory based on the path integral formalism of quantum mechanics and illustrate this framework by constructing a model that describes a quantum particle evolving in a discrete space-time lattice. We then present a finite model for describing the internal dynamics of elementary particles and show that this model gives the standard particle classification scheme and successfully predicts particle masses.     

Gromov-Witten classes,quantum cohomology,and enumerative geometry

The paper is devoted to the mathematical aspects of topological quantum field theory and its applications to enumerative problems of algebraic geometry. In particular, it contains an axiomatic treatment of Gromov-Witten classes, and a discussion of their properties for Fano varieties. Cohomological Field Theories are defined, and it is proved that tree level theories are determined by their correlation functions. Application to counting rational curves on del Pezzo surfaces and projective spaces are given.     

Information theory, spectral geometry, and quantum gravity

We show that there exists a deep link between the two disciplines of information theory and spectral geometry. This allows us to obtain new results on a well-known quantum gravity motivated natural ultraviolet cutoff which describes an upper bound on the spatial density of information. Concretely, we show that, together with an infrared cutoff, this natural ultraviolet cutoff beautifully reduces the path integral of quantum field theory on curved space to a finite number of ordinary integrations. We then show, in particular, that the subsequent removal of the infrared cutoff is safe.     

Inflation from quantum geometry

Quantum geometry predicts that a universe evolves through an inflationary phase at small volume before exiting gracefully into a standard Friedmann phase. This does not require the introduction of additional matter fields with ad hoc potentials; rather, it occurs because of a quantum gravity modification of the kinetic part of ordinary matter Hamiltonians. An application of the same mechanism can explain why the present day cosmological acceleration is so tiny.     

Complex geometry,unification, and quantum gravity. I. The geometry of elementary particles

The Poincaré group is replaced byU(3, 2), the pseudounitary extension of the de Sitter groupSO(3, 2), as internal and space-time symmetries are combined in a geometric setting which invalidates the no-go theorems. A new model of elementary particles as vertical vectors on the principal fiber bundleU(3, 2) U(3, 2)/U(3, 1)×U(1) is introduced and their interactions via Lie bracket analyzed. The model accounts for the four known superselection rules: spin, electric charge, baryon number, and lepton number.     

Time-dependent quantum systems and chronoprojective geometry

Chronoprojective transformations in the framework of five-dimensional Schrödinger formalism are used to construct the solution of the Schrödinger equation with a time-dependent harmonic potential from the solution of a free Schrödinger equation.     

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 a numerical problem. We exhibit the technique explicitly in (2+1)-dimensional gravity.     

Riemann-Cartan-Weyl quantum geometry,I: Laplacians and supersymmetric systems

In this first article of a series dealing with the geometry of quantum mechanics, we introduce the Riemann-Cartan-Weyl (RCW) geometries of quantum mechanics for spin-0 systems as well as for systems of nonzero spin. The central structure is given by a family of Laplacian (or D'Alembertian) operators on forms of arbitrary degree associated to the RCW geometries. We show that they are conformally equivalent with the Laplacian operators introduced by Witten in topological quantum field theories. We show that the Laplacian RCW operators yield a supersymmetric system, in the sense of Witten, and study the relation between the RCW geometries and the symplectic structure of loop space. The RCW family of Laplacians are the infinitesimal generators of diffusion processes on nondegenerate space-times of systems of arbitrary spin.     

The quantum geometry of spin and statistics

Both, spin and statistics of a quantum system can be seen to arise from underlying (quantum) group symmetries. We show that the spin–statistics theorem is equivalent to a unification of these symmetries. Besides covering the Bose–Fermi case we classify the corresponding possibilities for anyonic spin and statistics. We incorporate the underlying extended concept of symmetry into quantum field theory in a generalised path integral formulation capable of handling general braid statistics. For bosons and fermions the different path integrals and Feynman rules naturally emerge without introducing Grassmann variables. We also consider the anyonic example of quons and obtain the path integral counterpart to the usual canonical approach.     

Random geometry, quantum gravity and the Kähler potential

We propose a new method to define theories of random geometries, using an explicit and simple map between metrics and large hermitian matrices. We outline some of the many possible applications of the formalism. For example, a background-independent measure on the space of metrics can be easily constructed from first principles. Our framework suggests the relevance of a new gravitational effective action and we show that it occurs when coupling the massive scalar field to two-dimensional gravity. This yields new types of quantum gravity models generalizing the standard Liouville case.     

Noncommutative geometry of the quantum clock

We introduce a model of noncommutative geometry that gives rise to the uncertainty relations recently derived from the discussion of a quantum clock. We investigate the dynamics of a free particle in this model from the point of view of doubly special relativity and discuss the geodesic motion in a Schwarzschild background.