Two Hamiltonian formulations of General Relativity, due to Pirani, Schild and Skinner (Phys. Rev. 87, 452, 1952) and Dirac (Proc. Roy. Soc. A 246, 333, 1958), are considered. Both formulations, despite having different expressions for constraints, allow one to derive four-dimensional diffeomorphism invariance. The relation between these two formulations at all stages of the Dirac approach to the constrained Hamiltonian systems is analyzed. It is shown that the complete sets of their phase-space variables are related by a transformation which satisfies the ordinary condition of canonicity known for unconstrained Hamiltonians and, in addition, converts one total Hamiltonian into another, thus preserving form-invariance of generalized Hamiltonian equations for constrained systems.
Ising models of emergent geometry are well known to possess ground states with many of the desired features of a low dimensional, Ricci flat vacuum. Further, excitations of these ground states can be shown to replicate the quantum dynamics of a free particle in the continuum limit. It would be a significant next step in the development of emergent Ising models to link them to an underlying physical theory that has General Relativity as its continuum limit. In this work we investigate how the canonical formulation of General Relativity can be used to construct such a discrete Hamiltonian using …
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 wavefunctions based on the Vassiliev knot 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.
We study the approach in which independent variables describing gravity are functions of the space-time embedding into a flat space of higher dimension. We formulate a canonical formalism for such a theory in a form, which requires imposing additional constraints, which are a part of Einstein's equations. As a result, we obtain a theory with an eight-parameter gauge symmetry. This theory becomes equivalent to Einstein's general relativity either after partial gauge fixing or after rewriting the metric in the form that is invariant under the additional gauge transformations. We write the action…
Canonical tensor model (CTM for short below) is a rank-three tensor model formulated as a totally constrained system in the canonical formalism. In the classical case, the constraints form a first-class constraint Poisson algebra with structures similar to that of the ADM formalism of general relativity, qualifying CTM as a possible discrete formalism for quantum gravity. In this paper, we show that, in a formal continuum limit, the constraint Poisson algebra of CTM with no cosmological constant exactly reproduces that of the ADM formalism. To this end, we obtain the expression of the metric t…
General relativity under the assumption of noncommuting components of the tetrad field is considered in this paper. Since the algebraic properties of the tetrad field representing the gravitational field are assumed to correspond to the noncommutativity algebra of the coordinates in the canonical case of noncommutative geometry, this idea is closely related to noncommutative geometry as well as to canonical quantization of gravity. According to this presupposition generalized field equations for general relativity are derived which are obtained by replacing the usual tetrad field by the tetrad…
Canonical tensor model is a theory of dynamical fuzzy spaces in arbitrary space-time dimensions. Examining its simplest case, we find a connection to a minisuperspace model of general relativity in arbitrary dimensions. This is a first step in interpreting variables in canonical tensor model based on the known language of general relativity.
We give an SU(2) covariant representation of the constraints of Euclidean general relativity in the Ashtekar variables. The guiding principle is the use of triads to transform all free spatial indices into SU(2) indices. A central role is played by a special covariant derivative. The Gauss, diffeomorphism and Hamiltonian constraints become purely algebraic restrictions on the curvature and the torsion associated with this connection. We introduce coordinates on the jet space of the dynamical fields which cleanly separate the constraint and gauge directions from the true physical directions. Th…
In this paper we review the canonical analysis of constrained systems and apply it in the case of teleparallel equivalent of general relativity and teleparallel gravity. For each of them we find all the Poisson brackets, generators of gauge symmetries, as well as the number of degrees of freedom.
We consider general relativity with a cosmological constant as a perturbative expansion around a completely solvable diffeomorphism invariant field theory. This theory is the $Λ\to\infty$ limit of general relativity. This allows an explicit perturbative computational setup in which the quantum states of the theory and the classical observables can be explicitly computed. The zeroth order corresponds to highly degenerate space-times with vanishing volume. Perturbations give rise to space-times with non-vanishing volumes in a natural way. The spectrum of area- and volume-related observables cons…
We discuss the relation between the canonical Hamilton-Jacobi theory and the De Donder-Weyl Hamilton-Jacobi theory known in the calculus of variations using the examples of a scalar field in curved space-time and general relativity. By restricting ourselves to the Gaussian coordinates we show how the canonical Hamilton-Jacobi equation of general relativity can be derived from the De Donder-Weyl Hamilton-Jacobi formulation of the Einstein equations.
We study 4-dimensional non-charged and charged spherically symmetric spacetimes in conformal teleparallel equivalent of general relativity. We apply the gravitational field equations in non-charged and charged spacetimes to the diagonal and non-diagonal vierbeins and derive their sets of the non-linear differential equations. It is demonstrated that the Schwarzschild, for the non-charged case, and the Reissner-Nordström, for the charged case, are the only black hole solutions for the spherically symmetric case in the framework of the conformal teleparallel equivalent of general relativity theo…
Firstly, we present a reformulation of the standard canonical approach to spherically symmetric systems in which the radial gauge is imposed. This is done via the gauge unfixing technique, which serves as the exposition in the context of the radial gauge. Secondly, we apply the same techniques to the full theory, without assuming spherical symmetry, resulting in a reduced phase space description of general relativity. The canonical structure of the theory is analyzed.
We discuss the corrections to the lifetime of unstable elementary particles in some models of doubly special relativity. We assume that the speed of light is invariant and that the position coordinates transform in such a way to ensure the invariance of the deformed symplectic structure of phase space.
The groupoid approach to noncommutative unification of general relativity with quantum mechanics is compared with the canonical gravity quantization. It is shown that by restricting the corresponding noncommutative algebra to its (commutative) subalgebra, which determines the space-time slicing, an algebraic counterpart of superspace (space of 3-metrics) can be obtained. It turns out that when this space-time slicing emerges the universe is already in its commutative regime. We explore the consequences of this result.
Deformed special relativity is embedded in deformed general relativity using the methods of canonical relativity and loop quantum gravity. Phase-space dependent deformations of symmetry algebras then appear, which in some regimes can be rewritten as non-linear Poincare algebras with momentum-dependent deformations of commutators between boosts and time translations. In contrast to deformed special relativity, the deformations are derived for generators with an unambiguous physical role, following from the relationship between canonical constraints of gravity with stress-energy components. The …
A new canonical transformation is found that enables the direct canonical treatment of the conformal factor in general relativity. The resulting formulation significantly simplifies the previously presented conformal geometrodynamics. It provides a further theoretical basis for the conformal approach to loop quantum gravity and offers a generic framework for the conformal analysis of spacetime dynamics.
We present some Maple procedures using the GrTensorII package for teaching purposes in the study of the canonical version of the general relativity based on the ADM formalism
We present a parameter-free gauge formulation of general relativity in terms of a new set of real spin connection variables. The theory is constructed by extending the phase space of the recently formulated conformal geometrodynamics for canonical gravity to accommodate a spin gauge description. This leads to a further enlarged set of first class gravitational constraints consisting of a reduced Hamiltonian constraint and the canonical generators for spin gauge and conformorphism transformations. Owing to the incorporated conformal symmetry, the new theory is shown to be free from an ambiguity…
We perform the complete Hamiltonian analysis of the BFCG action for General Relativity. We determine all the constraints of the theory and classify them into the first-class and the second-class constraints. We also show how the canonical formulation of BFCG General Relativity reduces to the Einstein-Cartan and triad canonical formulations. The reduced phase space analysis also gives a 2-connection which is suitable for the construction of a spin-foam basis which will be a categorical generalization of the spin-network basis from Loop Quantum Gravity.
The canonical tensor model (CTM) is a rank-three tensor model formulated as a totally constrained system in the canonical formalism. The constraint algebra of CTM has a similar structure as that of the ADM formalism of general relativity, and is studied as a discretized model for quantum gravity. In this paper, we analyze the classical equation of motion (EOM) of CTM in a formal continuum limit through a derivative expansion of the tensor up to the forth order, and show that it is the same as the EOM of a coupled system of gravity and a scalar field derived from the Hamilton-Jacobi equation wi…
We summarize a recently proposed concrete programme for investigating the (semi)classical limit of canonical, Lorentzian, continuum quantum general relativity in four spacetime dimensions. The analysis is based on a novel set of coherent states labelled by graphs. These fit neatly together with an Infinite Tensor Product (ITP) extension of the currently used Hilbert space. The ITP construction enables us to give rigorous meaning to the infinite volume (thermodynamic) limit of the theory which has been out of reach so far.
Einstein theory can be embedded in Kaluza-Klein theory, and in particular all 4D vacuum solutions can be embedded in 5D (pure) canonical space where spacetime is independent of the extra coordinate. The uniqueness of 5D canonical space is quickly reproven, and its history and implications briefly reviewed. For 4D anti-deSitter space, the 5D space involves a wave running around spacetime, with an associated particle that has a local value of the cosmological 'constant' proportional to the square of the mass.
Einstein's general relativity with both metric and vielbein treated as independent fields is considered, demonstrating the existence of a consistent variational principle and deriving a Hamiltonian formalism that treats the spatial metric and spatial vielbein as canonical coordinates. This results in a Hamiltonian in standard form that consists of Hamiltonian and momentum constraints as well as constraints that generate spatial frame transformations---all appearing as primary, first class constraints on phase space. The formalism encompasses the standard coordinate frame and vielbein approache…
By using the Gitman-Lyakhovich-Tyutin canonical analysis for higher-order theories a four-dimensional Chern-Simons modification of general relativity is analyzed. The counting of physical degrees of freedom, the symmetries, and the fundamental Dirac brackets are reported. Additionally, we report the complete structure of the constraints and its Dirac algebra is developed.
Building on the results of previous work, we demonstrate how matter fields are incorporated into the general linear frame approach to general relativity. When considering the Maxwell one-form field, we find that the system that leads naturally to canonical vierbein general relativity has the extrinsic curvature of the Cauchy surface represented by gravitational as well as non-gravitational degrees of freedom. Nevertheless the metric compatibility conditions are undisturbed, and this apparent derivative-coupling is seen to be an effect of working with (possibly orthonormal) linear frames. The f…
We investigate the implications of intrinsic time deparameterization on the phase space of the connection representation of canonical gravity in the form of the Ashtekar variables. We find that, much like the metric representation of this formalism, the Hamiltonian constraint now becomes a physical Hamiltonian generating evolution with respect to an intrinsic time. The complete observables for the theory are then constructed. Also, the dynamics in this formulation is cast into a classical master constraint theory.
It is shown that in spite of a generally accepted concept, there exist nondiffeomorphic solutions to the Cauchy problem in nonempty spacetime, which implies the necessity for canonical complementary conditions. It is nonlocal quantum jumps that provide a canonical global structure of spacetime manifold and, by the same token, the canonical complementary conditions.
Doubly Special Relativity is usually formulated in momentum space, providing the explicit nonlinear action of the Lorentz transformations that incorporates the deformation of boosts. Various proposals have appeared in the literature for the associated realization in position space. While some are based on noncommutative geometries, others respect the compatibility of the spacetime coordinates. Among the latter, there exist several proposals that invoke in different ways the completion of the Lorentz transformations into canonical ones in phase space. In this paper, the relationship between all…
The problem of time in canonical quantum gravity is related to the fact that the canonical description is based on the prior choice of a spacelike foliation, hence making a reference to a spacetime metric. However, the metric is expected to be a dynamical, fluctuating quantity in quantum gravity. We show how this problem can be solved in the histories formulation of general relativity. We implement the 3+1 decomposition using metric-dependent foliations which remain spacelike with respect to all possible Lorentzian metrics. This allows us to find an explicit relation of covariant and canonical…
Studies of new hyperbolic systems for the Einstein evolution equations show that the ``slicing density'' $α(t,x)$ can be freely specified while the lapse $N = αg^{1/2}$ cannot. Implementation of this small change in the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner action principle leads to canonical equations that agree with the Einstein equations whether or not the constraints are satisfied. The constraint functions, independently of their values, then propagate according to a first order symmetric hyperbolic system whose characteristic cone is the light cone. This result follows from the twice-contracted Bianchi i…
Different aspects of relativity, mainly in a canonical formulation, relevant for the question "Is spacetime nothing more than a mathematical space (which describes the evolution in time of the ordinary three-dimensional world) or is it a mathematical model of a real four-dimensional world with time entirely given as the fourth dimension?" are presented. The availability as well as clarity of the arguments depend on which framework is being used, for which currently special relativity, general relativity and some schemes of quantum gravity are available. Canonical gravity provides means to anal…
A new form of the dynamical equations of vacuum general relativity is proposed. This form involves the canonical Hamiltonian structure but non canonical variables. The new field variables are the electric field $E^{a}{}_{i}$ and the magnetic field $B^{a}{}_{i}$ which emerge from the Ashtekar's representation for canonical gravity. The constraint algebra is studied in terms of the new field variables and the counting of the degrees of freedom is done. The quantization is briefly outlined.
We present Hamilton's equations for the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity (TEGR), which is a reformulation of general relativity based on a curvatureless, metric compatible, and torsionful connection. For this, we consider the Hamiltonian for TEGR obtained through the vector, antisymmetric, symmetric and trace-free, and trace irreducible decomposition of the phase space variables. We present the Hamiltonian for TEGR in the covariant formalism for the first time in the literature, by considering a spin connection depending on Lorentz matrices. We introduce the mathematical formalism…
A review of the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity is presented. It is emphasized that general relativity may be formulated in terms of the tetrad fields and of the torsion tensor, and that this geometrical formulation leads to alternative insights into the theory. The equivalence with the standard formulation in terms of the metric and curvature tensors takes place at the level of field equations. The review starts with a brief account of the history of teleparallel theories of gravity. Then the ordinary interpretation of the tetrad fields as reference frames adapted to arbitrary o…
We study canonical transformations of general relativity (GR) to provide a novel matter coupling to gravity. Although the transformed theory is equivalent to GR in vacuum, the equivalence no longer holds if a matter field minimally couples to the canonically transformed gravitational field. We find that a naive matter coupling to the transformed field leads to the appearance of an extra mode in the phase space, rendering the theory inconsistent. We then find a consistent and novel way of matter coupling: after imposing a gauge fixing condition, a matter field can minimally couple to gravity wi…
Many years ago we have introduced into general relativity, {\bf GR}, the canonical superenergy tensors, $S_i^{~k}$, and the canonical angular supermomentum tensors, $S^{ikl}=(-)S^{kil}$, matter and gravitation. We have obtained these tensors by special averaging of the differences of the canonical energy-momentum and canonical angular momentum. The averaging was performed in Riemann normal coordinates, {\bf RNC(P)}; {\bf P} is beginning of these coordinates. About four years ago we have observed that these tensors can also be obtained in other, simpler way, by using the canonical superenergy a…
We discuss equivalent representations of gravity in the framework of metric-affine geometries pointing out basic concepts from where these theories stem out. In particular, we take into account tetrads and spin connection to describe the so called {\it Geometric Trinity of Gravity}. Specifically, we consider General Relativity, constructed upon the metric tensor and based on the curvature $R$; Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity, formulated in terms of torsion $T$ and relying on tetrads and spin connection; Symmetric Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity, built up on non-metr…
It is widely accepted that the fundamental geometrical law of nature should follow from an action principle. The particular subset of transformations of a system's dynamical variables that maintain the form of the action principle comprises the group of canonical transformations. In the context of canonical field theory, the adjective "extended" signifies that not only the fields but also the space-time geometry is subject to transformation. Thus, in order to be physical, the transition to another, possibly noninertial frame of reference must necessarily constitute an extended canonical transf…
The covariant Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity is derived based on the analysis of the second-class constraints within the covariant Hamiltonian theory of De Donder-Weyl according to the constraints algorithm developed by Kanatchikov.
We study the action for the three-space formalism of General Relativity, better known as the BFÓ (Barbour--Foster--Ó Murchadha) action, which is a square-root BSW (Baierlein--Sharp--Wheeler) action. In particular, we explore the (pre)symplectic structure by pulling it back via a Legendre map to the tangent bundle of the configuration space of this action. With it we attain the canonical Lagrangian vector field which generates the gauge transformations (3-diffeomorphisms) and the true physical evolution of the system. This vector field encapsulates all the dynamics of the system. We also discus…
Chamseddine and Mukhanov recently proposed a modified version of general relativity that implements the idea of a limiting curvature. In the spatially flat, homogeneous, and isotropic sector, their theory turns out to agree with the effective dynamics of the simplest version of loop quantum gravity if one identifies their limiting curvature with a multiple of the Planck curvature. At the same time, it extends to full general relativity without any symmetry assumptions and thus provides an ideal toy model for full loop quantum gravity in the form of a generally covariant effective action known …
Building towards a more covariant approach to canonical classical and quantum gravity we outline an approach to constrained dynamics that de-emphasizes the role of the Hamiltonian phase space and highlights the role of the Lagrangian phase space. We identify a "Lagrangian one-form" to replace the standard symplectic one-form, which we use to construct the canonical constraints and an associated constraint algebra. The method is particularly useful for generally covariant systems and systems with a degenerate canonical symplectic form, such as Einstein Cartan gravity, to which we apply the meth…
It has long been recognized that lattice gauge theory formulations, when applied to general relativity, conflict with the invariance of the theory under diffeomorphisms. Additionally, the traditional lattice field theory approach consists in fixing the gauge in a Euclidean action, which does not appear appropriate for general relativity. We analyze discrete lattice general relativity and develop a canonical formalism that allows to treat constrained theories in Lorentzian signature space-times. The presence of the lattice introduces a ``dynamical gauge'' fixing that makes the quantization of t…
We construct a Hamiltonian formulation of quasilocal general relativity using an extended phase space that includes boundary coordinates as configuration variables. This allows us to use Hamiltonian methods to derive an expression for the energy of a non-isolated region of space-time that interacts with its neighbourhood. This expression is found to be very similar to the Brown-York quasilocal energy that was originally derived by Hamilton-Jacobi methods. We examine the connection between the two formalisms and find that when the boundary conditions for the two are harmonized, the resulting qu…
We study the transformation leading from Arnowitt, Deser, Misner (ADM) Hamiltonian formulation of General Relativity (GR) to the $ΓΓ$ metric Hamiltonian formulation derived from the Lagrangian density which was firstly proposed by Einstein. We classify this transformation as gauged canonical - i.e. canonical modulo a gauge transformation. In such a study we introduce a new Hamiltonian formulation written in ADM variables which differs from the usual ADM formulation mainly in a boundary term firstly proposed by Dirac. Performing the canonical quantization procedure we introduce a new functional…
We present a manifestly Lorentz-covariant description of the phase space of general relativity with the Immirzi parameter. This formulation emerges after solving the second-class constraints arising in the canonical analysis of the Holst action. We show that the new canonical variables give rise to other Lorentz-covariant parametrizations of the phase space via canonical transformations. The resulting form of the first-class constraints in terms of new variables is given. In the time gauge, these variables and the constraints become those found by Barbero.
There is a growing interest in modified gravity theories based on torsion, as these theories exhibit interesting cosmological implications. In this work, inspired by the teleparallel formulation of general relativity, we present its extension to Lovelock gravity known as the most natural extension of general relativity in higher-dimensional space-times. First, we review the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity and Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and then we construct the teleparallel equivalent of Lovelock gravity. In order to achieve this goal we use the vielbein and the connection without imp…
After reminder some facts concerning general relativity ({\bf GR}) we pass to teleparallel gravity. We are confining the special model of the teleparallel gravity, which is popular recently, called {\it the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity} ({\bf TEGR}). We are finishing with conclusion and some general remarks.
In this paper we have studied the nature of kinematical and dynamical laws in $κ$-Minkowski spacetime from a new perspective: the canonical phase space approach. We discuss a particular form of $κ$-Minkowski phase space algebra that yields the $κ$-extended finite Lorentz transformations derived in \cite{kim}. This is a particular form of a Deformed Special Relativity model that admits a modified energy-momentum dispersion law as well as noncommutative $κ$-Minkowski phase space. We show that this system can be completely mapped to a set of phase space variables that obey canonical (and {\it{not…
Recently Brown and York have devised a new method for defining quasilocal energy in general relativity. Their method yields expressions for the quasilocal energy and momentum surface densities associated with the two-boundary of a spacelike slice of a spatially bounded spacetime. These expressions are essentially Arnowitt-Deser-Misner variables, but with canonical conjugacy defined with respect to the time history of the two-boundary. This paper introduces Ashtekar-type variables on the time history of the two-boundary and shows that these variables lead to elegant alternative expressions for …
