Partially Covariant Quantum Theory of Gravitation

In this thesis it is argued that a strict law of conservation of probability is necessary for the unambiguous interpretation of any proposed quantum theory of gravitation. After a brief review of the current canonicnl methods for quantizing the gravitational field we conclude that they do not guarantee conservation of probability owing to the difficulty of finding a suitable intrinsic time coordinate. In an attempt to circumvent this problem we have proposed an alternative method of quantization which has a conventional Schrodinger equation and therefore a law of probability conservation. This result is achieved by imposing a weaker form of the quantum constraint equations than that of the conventional theory. In order to justify this approach it is necessary to show that, in spite of the weak form of the constraint equations, the Einstein theory is recovered in the classical limit . A partial proof of the desired result is given. The proposed quantum theory is developed somewhat by considering the interaction of matter and gravitational fields. Quantum analogs of the covariant conservation laws are derived for the special case of a massive spin-zero field. Charge conservation is also considered and an invariant scheme for defining the number of particles and anti-particles is developed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Physics

Year dc:date.issued

1972

Author dc:creator

• Moncrief, Vincent E.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nutku, Yavuz

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.13016/dspace/7xgi-3yfu

Dc Identifier Other

ILLiad # 1611141

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:drum.lib.umd.edu:1903/31645