Functional integration over geometries

DOI10.1063/1.531359zbMATH Open0845.58021arXivhep-th/9502109OpenAlexW1978965532MaRDI QIDQ4871969FDOQ4871969

Emil Mottola

Publication date: 16 September 1996

Published in: Journal of Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The geometric construction of the functional integral over coset spaces $calM/calG$ is reviewed. The inner product on the cotangent space of infinitesimal deformations of $calM$ defines an invariant distance and volume form, or functional integration measure on the full configuration space. Then, by a simple change of coordinates parameterizing the gauge fiber $calG$, the functional measure on the coset space $calM/calG$ is deduced. This change of integration variables leads to a Jacobian which is entirely equivalent to the Faddeev-Popov determinant of the more traditional gauge fixed approach in non-abelian gauge theory. If the general construction is applied to the case where $calG$ is the group of coordinate reparametrizations of spacetime, the continuum functional integral over geometries, {it i.e.} metrics modulo coordinate reparameterizations may be defined. The invariant functional integration measure is used to derive the trace anomaly and effective action for the conformal part of the metric in two and four dimensional spacetime. In two dimensions this approach generates the Polyakov-Liouville action of closed bosonic non-critical string theory. In four dimensions the corresponding effective action leads to novel conclusions on the importance of quantum effects in gravity in the far infrared, and in particular, a dramatic modification of the classical Einstein theory at cosmological distance scales, signaled first by the quantum instability of classical de Sitter spacetime. Finite volume scaling relations for the functional integral of quantum gravity in two and four dimensions are derived, and comparison with the discretized dynamical triangulation approach to the integration over geometries are discussed.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9502109

zbMATH Keywords

quantum gravitypath integral quantizationfunctional integration

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30) Applications of manifolds of mappings to the sciences (58D30) Correspondences and other transformation methods (e.g., Lie-Bäcklund) for PDEs on manifolds (58J72) Path integrals in quantum mechanics (81S40)

Cites Work

• Integration in Functional Spaces and its Applications in Quantum Physics
• The cosmological constant problem
• Non-local conformal anomalies
• Quantization of relativistic systems with constraints
• ONE-LOOP QUANTUM GRAVITY ON DE SITTER SPACE
• The path integral measure, conformal factor problem and stability of the ground state of quantum gravity
• Graviton fluctuations in de Sitter space
• Perturbative approach to induced quantum gravity

Cited In (32)

• Diffeomorphism invariant measure for finite-dimensional geometries
• Stability of flat space to singular instantons
• Vacuum decay in the Lorentzian path integral
• RG flows of Quantum Einstein Gravity in the linear-geometric approximation
• Gauging the boundary in field-space
• Covariant singularities in quantum field theory and quantum gravity
• Graviton 1-loop partition function for 3-dimensional massive gravity
• Gravitational form factors and decoupling in 2\(D\)
• Is classical reality completely deterministic?
• The universal RG machine
• Loop quantum gravity à la Aharonov-Bohm
• Functional integration on two-dimensional Regge geometries
• Covariant spin-parity decomposition of the torsion and path integrals
• Heat kernel expansion: user's manual
• The asymptotic safety scenario in quantum gravity
• Polyakov effective action from functional renormalization group equation
• Generalised massive gravity one-loop partition function and AdS/(L)CFT
• The propagation kernel for strong coupling gravity
• Gravitational fixed points and asymptotic safety from perturbation theory
• The path integral measure, conformal factor problem and stability of the ground state of quantum gravity
• A proper-time cure for the conformal sickness in quantum gravity
• Lessons from conformally reduced quantum gravity
• Unimodular quantum gravity and the cosmological constant
• Calculation of Wilson loops in two-dimensional Yang-Mills theories
• Scaling in four-dimensional quantum gravity
• Metric fluctuations, entropy, and the Wheeler-de Witt equation
• Unimodular gravity vs general relativity: a status report
• A holographic proof of Rényi entropic inequalities
• Heuristic approach to non-Abelian quantum kinematics and dynamics in configuration spacetime
• On gauge independence in quantum gravity
• On the reconstruction problem in quantum gravity
• Transport coefficients in AdS/CFT and quantum gravity corrections due to a functional measure

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