Published May 14, 1984 | Version v1
Journal article

Vacuum topology and incoherence in quantum gravity

  • 1. The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

Description

An explicit expression is derived for the quantum gravitational vacuum state by use of the saddle-point approximation and a conformally invariant action. It consists of a superposition of zero-energy classical vacua that differ in the topology both of the local Lorentz frames (leading to CP nonconservation) and of space itself. Space is found to have Planck-size wormholes and spinorial knots, and is surrounded by a vapor of disconnected submanifolds. The scattering matrix constructed on this vacuum is not unitary but the superscattering matrix conserves probability

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Phys. Rev. Lett.
Journal Volume
52
Journal Issue
20
Series
Phys. Rev. Lett.
Journal Page Range
1733-1736
ISSN
0031-9007

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
United States
INIS RN
16047079
Subject category
S71: CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS;
Descriptors DEI
CONFORMAL INVARIANCE; INSTANTONS; PROBABILITY; QUANTUM GRAVITY; TOPOLOGY; VACUUM STATES; YANG-MILLS THEORY
Descriptors DEC
FIELD THEORIES; INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES; MATHEMATICS; QUANTUM FIELD THEORY; QUASI PARTICLES