# Quantum Gravity

This series consists of talks in the area of Quantum Gravity.

## Seminar Series Events/Videos

Currently there are no upcoming talks in this series.

## Emergent gravity from noncommutative gauge theory

Thursday Jan 24, 2008
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We show that the matrix-model for noncommutative U(n) gauge theory actually describes SU(n) gauge theory coupled to gravity.
The nonabelian gauge fields as well as additional scalar fields couple to a dynamical metric G_ab, which is given in terms of a Poisson structure. This leads to a gravity theory which is naturally related to noncommutativity, encoding those degrees of freedom which are usually interpreted as U(1) gauge fields. Essential features such as gravitational waves and the Newtonian limit are reproduced correctly.

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## Asymptotic safety

Thursday Nov 29, 2007
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TBA

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## Automorphisms in Loop Quantum Gravity

Thursday Nov 15, 2007
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There is a deep relation between Loop Quantum Gravity and notions from category theory, which have been pointed out by many researchers, such as Baez or Velhinho. Concepts like holonomies, connections and gauge transformations can be naturally formulated in that language. In this formulation, the (spatial) diffeomorphisms appear as the path grouopid automorphisms. We investigate the effect of extending the diffeomorphisms to all such automorphisms, which can be viewed as \"distributional diffeomorphisms\".

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## 3d quantum gravity and deformed special relativity

Thursday Sep 20, 2007
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In 3d quantum gravity, Planck's constant, the Planck length and the cosmological constant control the lack of (co)-commutativity of quantities like angular momenta, momenta and postion coordinates. I will explain this statement, using the quantum groups which arise in the 3d quantum gravity but avoiding technical details. The non-commutative structures in 3d quantum gravity are quite different from those in the deformed version of special relativity desribed by the kappa-Poincare group, but can be related to the latter by an operation called semi-dualisation.

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## Quantum gravity and the Coulomb potential

Thursday Aug 02, 2007
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An ingredient in recent discussions of curvature singularity avoidance in quantum gravity is the "inverse scale factor" operator and its generalizations. I describe a general lattice origin of this idea, and show how it applies to the Coulomb singularity in quantum mechanics, and more generally to lattice formulations of quantum gravity. The example also demonstrates that a lattice discretized Schrodinger or Wheeler-DeWitt equation is computationally equivalent to the so called "polymer"
quantization derived from loop quantum gravity.

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## Renormalizable Non-Metric Quantum Gravity?

Thursday Nov 30, 2006
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We argue that four-dimensional quantum gravity may be essentially renormalizable provided one relaxes the assumption of metricity of the

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## Algebraic Quantum Gravity

Thursday Sep 07, 2006
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We introduce a new top down approach to canonical quantum gravity, called Algebraic Quantum Gravity (AQG): The quantum kinematics of AQG is determined by an abstract $*-$algebra generated by a countable set of elementary operators labelled by an algebraic graph. The quantum dynamics of AQG is governed by a single Master Constraint operator. While AQG is inspired by Loop Quantum Gravity LQG), it differs drastically from it because in AQG there is fundamentally no topology or differential structure.

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## Making sense of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians

Thursday Apr 13, 2006
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It is a standard axiom of quantum mechanics that the Hamiltonian H must be Hermitian because Hermiticity guarantees that the energy spectrum is real and that time evolution is unitary. In this talk we examine an alternative formulation of quantum mechanics in which the conventional requirement of Hermiticity is replaced by the more general and physical condition of space- time reflection (PT) symmetry. We show that if the PT symmetry of H is unbroken, Then the spectrum of H is real. Examples of PT-symmetric non-Hermitian Hamiltonians are $H=p^2+ix^3$ and $H=p^2-x^4$.

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## Spacetime regions as "quantum subsystems": glimmers of a pre-geometric perspective

Thursday Jan 19, 2006
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Space-time measurements and gravitational experiments are made by the mutual relations between objects, fields, particles etc... Any operationally meaningful assertion about spacetime is therefore intrinsic to the degrees of freedom of the matter (i.e. non-gravitational) fields and concepts such as locality'' and proximity'' should, at least in principle, be definible entirely within the dynamics of the matter fields. We propose to consider the regions of space just as general subsystems''.

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## The universality of highly damped quasinormal modes in generic single horizon black holes

Thursday Jan 12, 2006
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We calculate analytically the highly damped quasinormal mode spectra of generic single-horizon black holes using the rigorous WKB techniques of Andersson and Howls. We thereby provide a firm foundation for previous analysis, and point out some of their possible limitations. The numerical coefficient in the real part of the highly damped frequency is generically determined by the behavior of coupling of the perturbation to the gravitational field near the origin, as expressed in tortoise coordinates.

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