Diffeomorphisms from finite triangulations and absence of 'local' degrees of freedom
| dc.creator | Pfeiffer, Hendryk | |
| dc.date | 2003-12-10 | |
| dc.date | 2004-04-26 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T10:28:05Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T10:28:05Z | |
| dc.description | If the diffeomorphism symmetry of general relativity is fully implemented into a path integral quantum theory, the path integral leads to a partition function which is an invariant of smooth manifolds. We comment on the physical implications of results on the classification of smooth and piecewise-linear 4-manifolds which show that the partition function can already be computed from a triangulation of space-time. Such a triangulation characterizes the topology and the differentiable structure, but is completely unrelated to any physical cut-off. It can be arbitrarily refined without affecting the physical predictions and without increasing the number of degrees of freedom proportionally to the volume. Only refinements at the boundary have a physical significance as long as the experimenters who observe through this boundary, can increase the resolution of their measurements. All these are consequences of the symmetries. The Planck scale cut-off expected in quantum gravity is rather a dynamical effect. | |
| dc.description | 4 pages, RevTeX with combined PicTeX/postscript figures; v2: presentation improved, typos corrected | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0312060 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0312060 | |
| dc.identifier | Phys.Lett.B591:197-201,2004 | |
| dc.identifier | doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2004.04.026 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/177330 | |
| dc.subject | General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology | |
| dc.title | Diffeomorphisms from finite triangulations and absence of 'local' degrees of freedom | |
| dc.type | text |