Work

Conditional probabilities with Dirac observables and the problem of time in quantum gravity

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: We combine the ``evolving constants'' approach to the construction of observables in canonical quantum gravity with the Page-Wootters formulation of quantum mechanics with a relational time for generally covariant systems. This overcomes the objections levied by Kucha\ifmmode \check{r}\else \v{r}\fi{} against the latter formalism. The construction is formulated entirely in terms of Dirac observables, avoiding in all cases the physical observation of quantities that do not belong in the physical Hilbert space. We work out explicitly the example of the parametrized particle, including the calculation of the propagator. The resulting theory also predicts a fundamental mechanism of decoherence.

Source: Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.79.041501

Authors: Rodolfo Gambini, Rafael A. Porto, Jorge Pullin, Sebastián Torterolo

Institutions: University of California, Santa Barbara, Louisiana State University

Language: English

Topic: Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories

Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Science Foundation, Foundational Questions Institute

Award: A New Paradigm for the Dynamics of Classical and Quantum Gravity