We construct a Lie-Rinehart algebra over an infinitesimal extension of the space of initial value fields for Einstein's equations. The bracket relations in this algebra are precisely those of the constraints for the initial value problem. The Lie-Rinehart algebra comes from a slight generalization of a Lie algebroid in which the algebra consists of sections of a sheaf rather than a vector bundle. (An actual Lie algebroid had been previously constructed by Blohmann, Fernandes, and Weinstein over a much larger extension.) The construction uses the BV-BFV (Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky) approach to boundary value problems, starting with the Einstein equations themselves, to construct an $L_\infty$-algebroid over a graded manifold which extends the initial data. The Lie-Rinehart algebra is then constructed by a change of variables. One of the consequences of the BV-BFV approach is a proof that the coisotropic property of the constraint set follows from the invariance of the Einstein equations under space-time diffeomorphisms.
A Lie-Rinehart algebra consists of a commutative algebra and a Lie algebra with additional structure which generalizes the mutual structure of interaction between the algebra of functions and the Lie algebra of smooth vector fields on a smooth manifold. Lie-Rinehart algebras provide the correct categorical language to solve the problem whether Kaehler quantization commutes with reduction which, in turn, may be seen as a descent problem.
In this paper, we define a class of 3-algebras which are called 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras. A 3-Lie-Rinehart algebra is a triple $(L, A, ρ)$, where $A$ is a commutative associative algebra, $L$ is an $A$-module, $(A, ρ)$ is a 3-Lie algebra $L$-module and $ρ(L, L)\subseteq Der(A)$. We discuss the basic structures, actions and crossed modules of 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras and construct 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras from given algebras, we also study the derivations from 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras to 3-Lie $A$-algebras. From the study, we see that there is much difference between 3-Lie algebras and 3-Lie-Rineha…
We extend the classical characterization of a finite-dimensional Lie algebra g in terms of its Maurer-Cartan algebra-the familiar differential graded algebra of alternating forms on g with values in the ground field, endowed with the standard Lie algebra cohomology operator-to sh Lie-Rinehart algebras. To this end, we first develop a characterization of sh Lie-Rinehart algebras in terms of differential graded cocommutative coalgebras and Lie algebra twisting cochains that extends the nowadays standard characterization of an ordinary sh Lie algebra (equivalently: Linfty algebra) in terms of its…
We consider a pairing producing various cyclic Hochschild cocycles, which led Alain Connes to cyclic cohomology. We are interested in geometrical meaning and homological properties of this pairing. We define a non-trivial pairing between the homology of a Lie-Rinehart (super-)algebra with coefficients in some partial traces and relative periodic cyclic homology. This pairing generalizes the index formula for summable Fredholm modules, the Connes-Kubo formula for the Hall conductivity and the formula computing the K0-group of a smooth noncommutative torus. It also produces new homological invar…
Twilled L(ie-)R(inehart)-algebras generalize, in the Lie-Rinehart context, complex structures on smooth manifolds. An almost complex manifold determines an "almost twilled pre-LR algebra", which is a true twilled LR-algebra iff the almost complex structure is integrable. We characterize twilled LR structures in terms of certain associated differential (bi)graded Lie and G(erstenhaber)-algebras; in particular the G-algebra arising from an almost complex structure is a d(ifferential) G-algebra iff the almost complex structure is integrable. Such G-algebras, endowed with a generator turning them …
The Lie and module (Rinehart) algebraic structure of vector fields of compact support over C infinity functions on a (connected) manifold M define a unique universal non-commutative Poisson * algebra. For a compact manifold, a (antihermitian) variable Z, central with respect to both the product and the Lie product, relates commutators and Poisson brackets; in the non-compact case, sequences of locally central variables allow for the addition of an element with the same role. Quotients with respect to the (positive) values taken by Z* Z define classical Poisson algebras and quantum observable a…
An involutive distribution $C$ on a smooth manifold $M$ is a Lie-algebroid acting on sections of the normal bundle $TM/C$. It is known that the Chevalley-Eilenberg complex associated to this representation of $C$ possesses the structure $\mathbb{X}$ of a strong homotopy Lie-Rinehart algebra. It is natural to interpret $\mathbb{X}$ as the (derived) Lie-Rinehart algebra of vector fields on the space $\mathbb{P}$ of integral manifolds of $C$. In this paper, I show that $\mathbb{X}$ is embedded in a strong homotopy associative algebra $\mathbb{D}$ of (normal) differential operators. It is natural …
A unique classification of the topological effects associated to quantum mechanics on manifolds is obtained on the basis of the invariance under diffeomorphisms and the realization of the Lie-Rinehart relations between the generators of the diffeomorphism group and the algebra of infinitely differentiable functions on the manifold. This leads to a unique ("Lie-Rinehart") C* algebra as observable algebra; its regular representations are shown to be locally Schroedinger and in one to one correspondence with the unitary representations of the fundamental group of the manifold. Therefore, in the a…
We construct a graded Lie algebra in which a solution to the vacuum Einstein equations is any element of degree 1 whose bracket with itself is zero. Each solution generates a cochain complex, whose first cohomology is linearized gravity about that solution. We gauge-fix to get a smaller cochain complex with the same cohomologies (deformation retraction). The new complex is much smaller, it consists of the solution spaces of linear homogeneous wave equations (symmetric hyperbolic equations). The algorithm that produces these gauges and wave equations is both for linearized gravity and the full …
We study the Lie group structure of asymptotic symmetry groups in General Relativity from the viewpoint of infinite-dimensional geometry. To this end, we review the geometric definition of asymptotic simplicity and emptiness due to Penrose and the coordinate-wise definition of asymptotic flatness due to Bondi et al. Then we construct the Lie group structure of the Bondi--Metzner--Sachs (BMS) group and discuss its Lie theoretic properties. We find that the BMS group is regular in the sense of Milnor, but not real analytic. This motivates us to conjecture that it is not locally exponential. Fina…
The Lie-Rinehart algebra of a manifold M, defined by the Lie structure of the vector fields, their action and their module structure on the infinitely differentiable functions on M, is a common, diffeomorphism invariant, algebra for both classical and quantum mechanics. Its (noncommutative) Poisson universal enveloping algebra contains a central variable Z which relates the commutators to the Lie products; classical and quantum mechanics are its only factorial realizations, corresponding to the indentification of Z with i times the Planck constant. In this form, canonical quantization appears …
We study the Newman--Unti (NU) group from the viewpoint of infinite-dimensional geometry. The NU group is a topological group in a natural coarse topology, but it does not become a manifold and hence a Lie group in this topology. To obtain a manifold structure we consider a finer Whitney-type topology. This turns the unit component of the NU group into an infinite-dimensional Lie group. We then study the Lie theoretic properties of this group. Surprisingly, the group operations of the full NU group become discontinuous, whence the NU group does not support a Lie group structure. The NU group c…
We construct a graded Lie algebra $\mathcal{E}$ in which the Maurer-Cartan equation is equivalent to the vacuum Einstein equations. The gauge groupoid is the groupoid of rank 4 real vector bundles with a conformal inner product, over a 4-dimensional base manifold, and the graded Lie algebra construction is a functor out of this groupoid. As usual, each Maurer-Cartan element in $\mathcal{E}^1$ yields a differential on $\mathcal{E}$. Its first homology is linearized gravity about that element. We introduce a gauge-fixing algorithm that generates, for each gauge object $G$, a contraction to a muc…
When the vacuum Einstein equations are cast in the form of hamiltonian evolution equations, the initial data lie in the cotangent bundle of the manifold MΣ of riemannian metrics on a Cauchy hypersurface Σ. As in every lagrangian field theory with symmetries, the initial data must satisfy constraints. But, unlike those of gauge theories, the constraints of general relativity do not arise as momenta of any hamiltonian group action. In this paper, we show that the bracket relations among the constraints of general relativity are identical to the bracket relations in the Lie algebroid of a groupoi…
We formalize the construction by Batalin and Vilkovisky of a solution of the classical master equation associated with a regular function on a nonsingular affine variety (the classical action). We introduce the notion of stable equivalence of solutions and prove that a solution exists and is unique up to stable equivalence. A consequence is that the associated BRST cohomology, with its structure of Poisson_0-algebra, is independent of choices and is uniquely determined up to unique isomorphism by the classical action. We give a geometric interpretation of the BRST cohomology sheaf in degree 0 …
In a previous article a relationship was established between the linearized metrics of General Relativity associated with geodesics and the Dirac Equation of quantum mechanics. In this paper the extension of that result to arbitrary curves is investigated. The Dirac equation is derived and shown to be related to the Lie derivative of the momentum along the curve. In addition,the equations of motion are derived from the Hamilton-Jacobi equation associated with the metric and the wave equation associated with the Hamiltonian is then shown not to commute with the Dirac operator. Finally, the Maxw…
