Square-root actions, metric signature, and the path integral of quantum gravity

A. Carlini, J. Greensite

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We consider quantization of the Baierlein-Sharp-Wheeler form of the gravitational action, in which the lapse function is determined from the Hamiltonian constraint. This action has a square root form, analogous to the actions of the relativistic particle and Nambu string. We argue that path-integral quantization of the gravitational action should be based on a path integrand exp [i S] rather than the familiar Feynman expression exp[iS], and that unitarity requires integration over manifolds of both Euclidean and Lorentzian signature. We discuss the relation of this path integral to our previous considerations regarding the problem of time, and extend our approach to include fermions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6947-6964
Number of pages18
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume52
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1995
Externally publishedYes

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