"An Approach to Discrete Quantum Gravity" by S. Gudder
 

Authors

S. GudderFollow

Publication Date

2013

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Causal growth process (CGP), Hilbert spaces, Quantum sequential growth process

Abstract

This article presents a simplified version of the author’s previous work. We first construct a causal growth process (CGP). We then form path Hilbert spaces using paths of varying lengths in the CGP. A sequence of positive operators on these Hilbert spaces that satisfy certain normalization and consistency conditions is called a quantum sequential growth process (QSGP). The operators of a QSGP are employed to define natural decoherence functionals and quantum measures. These quantum measures are extended to a single quantum measure defined on a suitable collection of subsets of a space of all paths. Continuing our general formalism, we define curvature operators and a discrete analogue of Einstein’s field equations on the Hilbert space of causal sets. We next present a method for constructing a QSGP using an amplitude process (AP). We then consider a specific AP that employs a discrete analogue of a quantum action. Finally, we consider the special case in which the QSGP is classical. It is pointed out that this formalism not only gives a discrete version of general relativity, there is also emerging a discrete analogue of quantum field theory. We therefore have discrete versions of these two theories within one unifying framework.



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