Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: We consider (2+1)-gravity with vanishing cosmological constant as a constrained dynamical system. By applying Dirac's gauge fixing procedure, we implement the constraints and determine the Dirac bracket on the gauge-invariant phase space. The chosen gauge fixing conditions have a natural physical interpretation and specify an observer in the spacetime. We derive explicit expressions for the resulting Dirac brackets and discuss their geometrical interpretation. In particular, we show that specifying an observer with respect to two point particles gives rise to conical spacetimes, whose deficit angle and time shift are determined, respectively, by the relative velocity and minimal distance of the two particles.
Source: Classical and Quantum Gravity
Authors: C Meusburger, T Schönfeld
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2060175295