Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/3258
Title: Is Barbero's Hamiltonian formulation a gauge theory of Lorentzian gravity?
Authors: Samuel, J.
Issue Date: Oct-2000
Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd.
Citation: Classical and Quantum Gravity, 2000, Vol.17, pL141-L148
Abstract: This letter is a critique of Barbero's constrained Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity, on which current work in loop quantum gravity is based. While we do not dispute the correctness of Barbero's formulation of general relativity, we offer some criticisms of an aesthetic nature. We point out that unlike Ashtekar's complex SU(2) connection, Barbero's real SO(3) connection does not admit an interpretation as a space-time gauge field. We show that if one tries to interpret Barbero's real SO(3) connection as a space-time gauge field, the theory is not diffeomorphism invariant. We conclude that Barbero's formulation is not a gauge theory of gravity in the sense that Ashtekar's Hamiltonian formulation is. The advantages of Barbero's real connection formulation have been bought at the price of giving up the description of gravity as a gauge field. PACS numbers: 0330, 0365, 0420
Description: Restricted Access.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/3258
ISSN: 0264-9381
Alternative Location: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381/17/20/101
Copyright: 2000 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Appears in Collections:Research Papers (TP)

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