[Mini-Symposium] "Afternoon on Quantum Gravity" at OIST

Invited speaker: 

• Sumati Surya (Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru)
•  Kristina Giesel (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)
• Silke Weinfurtner (Nottingham University)

Schedule: 

14h00-14h45 (questions included)

Speaker: Sumati Surya (Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru)

Title: A Quantum Random Walk on Causal Sets

Abstract: In this talk I will review some recent results in causal set quantum dynamics. I will focus in particular on the causal set Histories Hilbert space, and the challenges in constructing a non-trivial quantum measure or decoherence functional,  which obeys a local Markovian dynamics.  

14h45-15h00 break

15h00-15h45 (questions included)

Speaker: Kristina Giesel (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Title: Open quantum systems from the perspective of loop quantum gravity

Abstract: Open quantum systems provide a framework in which gravitationally induced decoherence can be described by choosing gravity as the environment that is quantized together with the system under consideration.  First, we briefly discuss the tasks to be accomplished in principle to formulate such open quantum models in the framework of loop quantum gravity (LQG), as well as the challenges that come along with it, focusing on the similarities and differences with existing models of gravitationally induced decoherence with linearized gravity. These include the role of physical dynamical reference frames in open relativistic quantum systems, the renormalization of the master equation, and the specific quantization method used in LQG-inspired models. Afterwards recent first steps and results on some of the relevant steps discussed before are presented. This involves an open QFT model formulated in terms of Ashtekar-Barbero variables, the usual classical starting point for LQG, but which is still based on a standard Fock quantization, a special choice of so-called geometrical clocks as a reference frame, and a renormalization of the master equation based on QFT techniques.

15h45-16h00 break

16h00-16h45 (questions included)

Speaker: Silke Weinfurtner (Nottingham University)

Title: TBA

Abstract: TBA

Organizer: Reiko Toriumi, Gravity, Quantum Geometry and Field Theory Unit