Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: This paper addresses the question of whether Witten's proof of positive Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) energy for classical general relativity [E. Witten, Commun. Math. Phys. 80, 381 (1981)] can be extended to give a proof of positive energy for a nonperturbative quantization of general relativity. To address this question, a set of conditions is shown to be sufficient for showing the positivity of a Hamiltonian operator corresponding to the ADM energy. One of these conditions is a particular factor ordering for the constraints of general relativity, in a representation where the states are functionals of the Ashtekar connection, and the auxiliary, Witten spinor.
Author: Lee Smolin
Institution: Perimeter Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2170844023