The Chern-Simons invariant as the natural time variable for classical and quantum cosmology.

DOI10.1016/0550-3213(95)00222-EMaRDI QIDQ1571699zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Lee Smolin, Chopin Soo

Publication date 11 July 2000

Published in Nuclear Physics B (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9405015

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Yang-Mills and other gauge theories in quantum field theory (81T13) Quantization of the gravitational field (83C45)

Abstract: We propose that the Chern-Simons invariant of the Ashtekar-Sen connection is the natural internal time coordinate for classical and quantum cosmology. The reasons for this are a number of interesting properties of this functional, which we describe here. 1)It is a function on the gauge and diffeomorphism invariant configuration space, whose gradient is orthogonal to the two physical degrees of freedom, in the metric defined by the Ashtekar formulation of general relativity. 2)The imaginary part of the Chern-Simons form reduces in the limit of small cosmological constant, $Lambda$, and solutions close to DeSitter spacetime, to the York extrinsic time coordinate. 3)Small matter-field excitations of the Chern-Simons state satisfy, by virtue of the quantum constraints, a functional Schroedinger equation in which the matter fields evolve on a DeSitter background in the Chern-Simons time. We then n propose this is the natural vacuum state of the theory for $Lambdaeq0$. 4)This time coordinate is periodic on the configuration space of Euclideanized spacetimes, due to the large gauge transformations, which means that physical expectation values for all states in non-perturbative quantum gravity will satisfy the $KMS$ condition, and may then be interpreted as thermal states. 5)Forms for the physical hamiltonians and inner product which support the proposal are suggested, and a new action principle for general relativity, as a geodesic principle on the connection superspace, is found.

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Cites work

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Cited in

(12)

• Quantum gravity as a Fermi liquid
• Towards a background independent approach to \(\mathcal M\) theory
• A connection between fermionic strings and quantum gravity states: a loop space approach
• Quantum deformation of quantum gravity
• Cosmological time and the constants of nature
• A contextual Planck parameter and the classical limit in quantum cosmology
• My journey into the physics of David Finkelstein
• On certain global conformal invariants and 3-surface twistors of initial data sets
• On the role of conformal three-geometries in the dynamics of general relativity
• Linking the Baum-Hawking-Coleman mechanism with unimodular gravity and Vilenkin's probability flux
• Canonical structure of minimal varying \(\Lambda\) theories
• Falsifiable predictions from semiclassical quantum gravity

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