In this Ph.D. thesis several topics in doubly special relativity are explored. The starting point of this theory is very different from other perspectives: it is not a fundamental theory, but it is considered a low energy limit of a quantum gravity theory that tries to study its possible residual elements. In particular, in doubly special relativity the Einstenian relativity principle is generalized, adding to the speed of light $c$ another relativistic invariant, the Planck length $l_p$. This idea can really have possible experimental observations, giving place to what is known as quantum gravity phenomenology. On the other hand, doubly special relativity implies the existence of deformed composition laws for energy and momentum, which leads to a spacetime with nonlocal ingredients, an element that also appears in other approaches of quantum gravity.
In particular in this thesis we consider: the role that the changes of momentum variables play in a deformed relativistic kinematics; a novel connection between the $κ$-Poincaré model and a curved momentum space; a new spacetime, which turns out to be noncommutative, making the interactions local; the possible time delay in the flight of photons as a consequence of a deformed kinematics, depending on whether observables are defined on a commutative or on a noncommutative spacetime; some computations in quantum field theory with a simple ansatz for the modified Feynman rules corresponding to a particle process; the generalization of the geometrical approach for a curved spacetime.
It is plausible that quantum gravity effects may lead us to a description of Nature beyond the framework of special relativity. In this case, either the relativity principle is broken or it is maintained. These two scenarios (a violation or a deformation of special relativity) are very different, both conceptually and phenomenologically. We discuss some of their implications on the description of events for different observers and the notion of spacetime.
The study of phase-space constructions based on the properties of the $κ$-Poincaré Hopf algebra has been a very active area, mostly because of its possible applications in the phenomenology of Planck-scale-induced momentum dependence of the speed of ultrarelativistic particles. We here summarize, with emphasis on the emerging relativity of spacetime locality, some results relevant for this research program that were recently reported in arXiv:1006.2126 (PhysRevLett106,071301) arXiv:1102.4637 (PhysLettB700,150) and arXiv:1107.1724 .
We analyse the quantum geometry of 3-dimensional deformed special relativity (DSR) and the notion of spacetime points in such a context, identified with coherent states that minimize the uncertainty relations among spacetime coordinates operators. We construct this system of coherent states in both the Riemannian and Lorentzian case, and study their properties and their geometric interpretation.
A new proposal for the notion of spacetime in a relativistic generalization of special relativity based on a modification of the composition law of momenta is presented. Locality of interactions is the principle which defines the spacetime structure for a system of particles. The formulation based on $κ$-Poincaré Hopf algebra is shown to be contained in this framework as a particular example.
In recent years, Planck-scale modifications to particles' dispersion relation have been deeply studied for the possibility to formulate some phenomenology of Planckian effects in astrophysical and cosmological frameworks. There are some indications [arXiv:gr-qc/0611024] that Finsler geometry can provide some generalization of Riemannian geometry which may allow to account for non-trivial (Planckian) structure of relativistic particles' configuration space. We investigate the possibility to formalize Planck-scale deformations to relativistic models in curved spacetime, within the framework of F…
Black holes are among the most exciting phenomena predicted by General Relativity and play a key role in fundamental physics. Many interesting phenomena involve dynamical black hole configurations in the high curvature regime of gravity. In these lecture notes I will summarise the main numerical relativity techniques to explore highly dynamical phenomena, such as black hole collisions, in generic $D$-dimensional spacetimes.
We explore spacetime symmetries and topologies of the two metric sectors in Hassan-Rosen bimetric theory. We show that, in vacuum, the two sectors can either share or have separate spacetime symmetries. If stress-energy tensors are present, a third case can arise, with different spacetime symmetries within the same sector. This raises the question of the best definition of spacetime symmetry in Hassan-Rosen bimetric theory. We emphasize the possibility of imposing ansätze and looking for solutions having different Killing vector fields or different isometries in the two sectors, which has gain…
General Relativity in the noncommutative spacetime of ${\cal M}^4 \times Z_2 \times Z_2$ is constructed based on a new type of fermions in addition to the known chiral quark-leptons. While this theory has a finite physical spectrum, all the known interactions of Nature and Higgs fields can be derived from it as components of gravity with only four free parameters.
A new prescription to calculate the total energies and angular momenta of asymptotically $(d+1)$-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetimes is proposed. The method is based on an extension of the field theoretical approach to General Relativity to the case where there is an effective cosmological constant. A $(d-1)$-form $Ω$ is exhibited which, when integrated on asymptotic $(d-1)$-dimensional boundary surfaces, yields the values of those conserved quantities. The calculations are gauge independent once asymptotic conditions are not violated . Total energies and angular momenta of some known soluti…
A spacetime interpretation of deformed relativity symmetry groups was recently proposed by resorting to Finslerian geometries, seen as the outcome of a continuous limit endowed with first order corrections from the quantum gravity regime. In this work we further investigate such connection between deformed algebras and Finslerian geometries by showing that the Finsler geometries associated to the generalisation of the Poincaré group (the so called $κ$-Poincaré Hopf algebra) are maximally symmetric spacetimes which are also of the Berwald type: Finslerian spacetimes for which the connections ar…
We review the manifestation of the Brout-Englert-Higgs effect in general relativity interacting with point-like and extended objects (p-branes including string for p=1 and membrane for p=2), which manifests itself in the appearance of the brane source in the Einstein equation while the graviton remains massless (hep-th/0112207, hep-th/0507197 and refs therein), and discuss briefly its relation and differences with the model for massive spin 2 field proposed recently by G. t'Hooft in [arXiv:0708.3184 [hep-th]].
We propose a Kaluza-Klein approach to general relativity of 4-dimensional spacetimes. This approach is based on the (2,2)-splitting of a generic 4-dimensional spacetime, which is viewed as a local product of a (1+1)-dimensional base manifold and a 2-dimensional fibre space. In this Kaluza-Klein formalism we find that general relativity of 4-dimensional spacetimes can be interpreted in a natural way as a (1+1)-dimensional gauge theory. In a gauge where the (1+1)-dimensional metric can be written as the Polyakov metric, the action is describable as a (1+1)-dimensional Yang-Mills type gauge theor…
We derive a formalism of numerical relativity for higher-dimensional spacetimes and develop numerical codes for simulating a wide variety of five-dimensional (5D) spacetimes for the first time. First, the Baumgarte-Shapiro-Shibata-Nakamura formalism is extended for arbitrary spacetime dimensions $D \ge 4$, and then, the so-called cartoon method, which was originally proposed as a robust method for simulating axisymmetric 4D spacetimes, is described for 5D spacetimes of several types of symmetries. Implementing 5D numerical relativity codes with the cartoon methods, we perform test simulations …
The Plebanski formulation of complex general relativity is given in terms of variables valued in the complexification of the $so(3)$ Lie algebra. Therefore, it is genuinely a gauge theory that is also diffeomorphism-invariant. For this reason, the way that the Levi-Civita connection emerges from this formulation is not direct because both the internal (gauge) and the spacetime connections are geometrical structures a priori not related, there is not a natural link between them. Any possible relationship must be put in by hand or must come from extra hypotheses. In this paper, we analyze the co…
A special relativity based on the de Sitter group is introduced, which is the theory that might hold up in the presence of a non-vanishing cosmological constant. Like ordinary special relativity, it retains the quotient character of spacetime, and a notion of homogeneity. As a consequence, the underlying spacetime will be a de Sitter spacetime, whose associated kinematics will differ from that of ordinary special relativity. The corresponding modified notions of energy and momentum are obtained, and the exact relationship between them, which is invariant under a re-scaling of the involved quan…
In the presence of a cosmological constant, interpreted as a purely geometric entity, absence of matter is represented by a de Sitter spacetime. As a consequence, ordinary Poincare' special relativity is no longer valid and must be replaced by a de Sitter special relativity. By considering the kinematics of a spinless particle in a de Sitter spacetime, we study the geodesics of this spacetime, the ensuing definitions of canonical momenta, and explore possible implications for quantum mechanics.
We investigate the covariant Hamiltonian symplectic structure of General Relativity for spatially bounded regions of spacetime with a fixed time-flow vector. For existence of a well-defined Hamiltonian variational principle taking into account a spatial boundary, it is necessary to modify the standard Arnowitt-Deser-Misner Hamiltonian by adding a boundary term whose form depends on the spatial boundary conditions for the gravitational field. The most general mathematically allowed boundary conditions and corresponding boundary terms are shown to be determined by solving a certain equation obta…
We show that representations of the group of spacetime diffeomorphism and the Dirac algebra both arise in a phase-space histories version of canonical general relativity. This is the general-relativistic analogue of the novel time structure introduced previously in history theory: namely, the existence in non-relativistic physics of two types of time translation; and the existence in relativistic field theory of two distinct Poincare groups.
The `observer space' of a Lorentzian spacetime is the space of future-timelike unit tangent vectors. Using Cartan geometry, we first study the structure a given spacetime induces on its observer space, then use this to define abstract observer space geometries for which no underlying spacetime is assumed. We propose taking observer space as fundamental in general relativity, and prove integrability conditions under which spacetime can be reconstructed as a quotient of observer space. Additional field equations on observer space then descend to Einstein's equations on the reconstructed spacetim…
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…
We argue that the natural framework for embedding the ideas of deformed, or doubly, special relativity (DSR) into a curved spacetime is a generalisation of Einstein-Cartan theory, considered by Stelle and West. Instead of interpreting the noncommuting "spacetime coordinates" of the Snyder algebra as endowing spacetime with a fundamentally noncommutative structure, we are led to consider a connection with torsion in this framework. This may lead to the usual ambiguities in minimal coupling. We note that observable violations of charge conservation induced by torsion should happen on a time scal…
Based on an identified quantum relativity symmetry the contraction of which gives the Newtonian approximation of Galilean relativity, a quantum model of the physical space can be formulated with the Newtonian space seen in a way as the classical approximation. Matching picture for the observable algebra as the corresponding representation of the group C* -algebra, describes the full dynamical pictures equally successfully. Extension of the scheme to a Lorentz covariant setting and beyond will also be addressed.The formulation of quantum mechanics allows the theory to be seen in a new picture i…
In this paper, we describe physical effects occurring in the regularized Robertson-Walker spacetime which can reveal the presence of the defect. Our analysis is based on two main physical quantities: the compressive forces acting on (human) observers and the energy possessed by massive particles and photons during their dynamical evolution. In Sec. 3, we claim that with a characteristic length scale of the order of the Planck length compressive forces become so intense near the defect that no (human) observer is able to cross it. In Sec. 4, we show that the energy exhibits an unusual character…
The Einstein-Hilbert-type action for nonlinear supersymmetric(NLSUSY) general relativity(GR) proposed as the fundamental action for nature is written down explicitly in terms of the fundamental fields, the graviton and the Nambu-Goldstone(NG) fermion(superons). For comparisons the expansion of the action is carried out by using the affine connection formalism and the spin connection formalism. The linearization of NLSUSY GR is considered and carried out explicitly for the N=2 NLSUSY(Volkov-Akulov) model, which reproduce the equivalent renormalizable theory of the gauge vector multiplet of N=2 …
We reinterpret special relativity, or more precisely its de Sitter deformation, in terms of 3d conformal geometry, as opposed to (3+1)d spacetime geometry. An inertial observer, usually described by a geodesic in spacetime, becomes instead a choice of ways to reverse the conformal compactification of a Euclidean vector space up to scale. The observer's "current time," usually given by a point along the geodesic, corresponds to the choice of scale in the decompactification. We also show how arbitrary conformal 3-geometries give rise to "observer space geometries," as defined in recent work, fro…
It is shown that, with some reasonable assumptions, the theory of general relativity can be made compatible with quantum mechanics by using the field equations of general relativity to construct a Robertson-Walker metric for a quantum particle so that the line element of the particle can be transformed entirely to that of the Minkowski spacetime, which is assumed by a quantum observer, and the spacetime dynamics of the particle described by a Minkowski observer takes the form of quantum mechanics. Spacetime structure of a quantum particle may have either positive or negative curvature. However…
Based on the Beltrami-de Sitter spacetime, we present the Newton-Hooke model under the Newton-Hooke contraction of the $BdS$ spacetime with respect to the transformation group, algebra and geometry. It is shown that in Newton-Hooke space-time, there are inertial-type coordinate systems and inertial-type observers, which move along straight lines with uniform velocity. And they are invariant under the Newton-Hooke group. In order to determine uniquely the Newton-Hooke limit, we propose the Galilei-Hooke's relativity principle as well as the postulate on Newton-Hooke universal time. All results …
We show in detail how the histories description of general relativity carries representations of both the spacetime diffeomorphisms group and the Dirac algebra of constraints. We show that the introduction of metric-dependent equivariant foliations leads to the crucial result that the canonical constraints are invariant under the action of spacetime diffeomorphisms. Furthermore, there exists a representation of the group of generalised spacetime mappings that are functionals of the four-metric: this is a spacetime analogue of the group originally defined by Bergmann and Komar in the context of…
An argument is presented that if a theory of quantum gravity is physically discrete at the Planck scale and the theory recovers General Relativity as an approximation, then, at the current stage of our knowledge, causal sets must arise within the theory, even if they are not its basis. We show in particular that an apparent alternative to causal sets, viz. a certain sort of discrete Lorentzian simplicial complex, cannot recover General Relativistic spacetimes in the appropriately unique way. For it cannot discriminate between Minkowski spacetime and a spacetime with a certain sort of gravitati…
Connes has extended Einstein's principle of general relativity to noncommutative geometry. The new principle implies that the Dirac operator is covariant with respect to Lorentz and internal gauge transformations and the Dirac operator must include Yukawa couplings. It further implies that the action for the metric, the gauge potentials and the Higgs scalar is coded in the spectrum of the covariant Dirac operator. This ``universal'' action has been computed by Chamseddine & Connes, it is the coupled Einstein-Hilbert and Yang-Mills-Higgs action. This result is rederived and we discuss the physi…
Wormholes are hypothetical shortcuts in spacetime that in General Relativity unavoidably violate all of the pointwise energy conditions. In this paper, we consider several wormhole spacetimes that, as opposed to the standard \emph{designer} procedure frequently employed in the literature, arise directly from gravitational actions including additional terms resulting from contractions of the Ricci tensor with the metric, and which are formulated assuming independence between metric and connection (Palatini approach). We reinterpret such wormhole solutions under the prism of General Relativity a…
We derive a coordinate-independent formulation of the post-1-Newtonian approximation to general relativity. This formulation is a generalization of the Newton-Cartan geometric formulation of Newtonian gravity. It involves several fields and a connection, but no spacetime metric at the fundamental level. We show that the usual coordinate-dependent equations of post-Newtonian gravity are recovered when one specializes to asymptotically flat spacetimes and to appropriate classes of coordinates.
In a recent paper [1] a new generalization of the Killing motion, the {\it gauged motion}, has been introduced for stationary spacetimes where it was shown that the physical symmetries of such spacetimes are well described through this new symmetry. In this article after a more detailed study in the stationary case we present the definition of gauged motion for general spacetimes. The definition is based on the gauged Lie derivative induced by a threading family of observers and the relevant reparametrization invariance. We also extend the gauged motion to the case of Kaluza-Klein theories.
We present an overview of recent developments in numerical relativity studies of higher dimensional spacetimes with a focus on time evolutions of black-hole systems. After a brief review of the numerical techniques employed for these studies, we summarize results grouped into the following three areas: (i) Numerical studies of fundamental properties of black holes, (ii) Applications of black-hole collisions to the modeling of Trans-Planckian scattering, (iii) Numerical studies of asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes in the context of the gauge-gravity duality.
Doubly special relativity has been studied for the last twenty years as a way to go beyond the special relativistic kinematics, trying to capture residual effects of a quantum gravity theory. In particular, in doubly special relativity the Einstenian relativity principle is generalized, adding to the speed of light another relativistic invariant, the Planck energy. There are several papers in the literature showing a connection between this deformed kinematics and a curved momentum space. Here we review how such kinematics can be derived from geometrical ingredients in a rigorous way, and how …
Nonlinear supersymmetric(NLSUSY) general relativity(GR) is considered and a new fundamental action of the vacuum Einstein-Hilbert(EH)-type is obtained by the Einstein gravity analogue geomtrical arguments on new spacetime inspired by NLSUSY. The new action of NLSUSY GR is unstable and breaks spontaneously to EH action with matter(or New spacetime is unstable and induces spontaneously the phase transition to Riemann spacetime with matter), which may be the real shape of the big bang of the universe and give naturally the unified description of spacetime and matter. Some implications for the low…
The equivalence principle and its universality enables the geometrical formulation of gravity. In the standard formulation of General Relativity á la Einstein, the gravitational interaction is geometrized in terms of the spacetime curvature. However, if we embrace the geometrical character of gravity, two alternative, though equivalent, formulations of General Relativity emerge in flat spacetimes, in which gravity is fully ascribed either to torsion or to non-metricity. The latter allows a much simpler formulation of General Relativity oblivious to the affine spacetime structure, the Coinciden…
Very Special Relativity (VSR) framework, proposed by Cohen and Glashow [1], demonstrated that a proper subgroup of the Poincaré group, (in particular ISIM(2)), is sufficient to describe the spacetime symmetries of the so far observed physical phenomena. Subsequently a deformation of the latter, $DISIM_b(2)$, was suggested by Gibbons, Gomis and Pope [2]. In the present work, we introduce a novel Non-Commutative (NC) spacetime structure, underlying the $DISIM_b(2)$. This allows us to construct explicitly the $DISIM_b(2)$ generators, consisting of a sector of Lorentz rotation generators and the t…
The issues related to bringing together the principles of general relativity and quantum theory are discussed. After briefly summarising the points of conflict between the two formalisms I focus on four specific themes in which some contact has been established in the past between GR and quantum field theory: (i) The role of planck length in the microstructure of spacetime (ii) The role of quantum effects in cosmology and origin of the universe (iii) The thermodynamics of spacetimes with horizons and especially the concept of entropy related to spacetime geometry (iv) The problem of the cosmol…
In this contribution we will review briefly the supersymmetric Lagrangian approach to the supergravity-superbrane interaction which was developed in collaboration with J. A. de Azcarraga, J.M. Izquierdo, J. Lukierski and J. M. Isidro. The main accent will be made on the pure gauge nature of the (super)brane coordinate functions in the presence of dynamical (super)gravity described by an action rather than as a fixed background. This pure gauge nature just reflects the fact that the coordinate functions are Goldstone fields corresponding to the spontaneously broken diffeomorphism gauge symmetry…
We investigate here all the possible invariant metric functions under the action of various kinds of semi-direct product Poincaré subgroups and their deformed partners. The investigation exhausts the possible theoretical frameworks for the spacetime realization of Cohen-Glashow's very special relativity and the deformation very special relativity approach by Gibbons-Gomis-Pope. Within Finsler-Minkowski type of spacetime, we find that the spacetime emerge a Finsler type of geometry in most cases both for undermed Poincaré subgroup and for deformed one. We give an explanation that the rotation o…
We continue a previous analysis of the covariant Hamiltonian symplectic structure of General Relativity for spatially bounded regions of spacetime. To allow for near complete generality, the Hamiltonian is formulated using any fixed hypersurface, with a boundary given by a closed spacelike 2-surface. A main result is that we obtain Hamiltonians associated to Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions on the gravitational field coupled to matter sources, in particular a Klein-Gordon field, an electromagnetic field, and a set of Yang-Mills-Higgs fields. The Hamiltonians are given by a covariant f…
In this note, we revise the problem of the axial anomaly in the framework of very special relativity following Fujikawa's path integral approach. We show nonperturbatively that no VSR contribution is present in the path integral measure in $(3+1)$-dimensional spacetime. Furthermore, we extend our results to $(1+1)$ dimensions, as well as to the two-dimesional curved spacetime.
The last decade of research on $κ$-Minkowski noncommutative spacetime has been strongly characterized by a controversy concerning the speed of propagation of massless particles. Most arguments suggested that this speed should depend on the momentum of the particle strongly enough to be of interest for some ongoing experimental studies. But the only explicit derivations of worldlines in $κ$-Minkowski predicted no momentum dependence for the speed of massless particles. We return to this controversy equipped with the recent understanding (arXiv:1006.2126, arXiv:1007.0718, arXiv:1008.2962, arXiv:…
We develop the general relativity of extended spacetime-property for describing events including their properties. The anticommuting nature of property coordinates, augmenting space-time $({\bf x},t)$, allows for the natural emergence of generations and for the simple incorporation of gauge fields in the spacetime-property sector. With one electric property this results in a geometrical unification of gravity and electromagnetism, leading to a Maxwell-Einstein Lagrangian plus a cosmological term. Addition of one neutrinic and three chromic properties should lead to unification of gravity with …
