Time Remains - a podcast by MCMP Team

Karim Thébault (MCMP/LMU) gives a talk at the MCMP Workshop "Quantum Gravity in Perspective" (31 May-1 June, 2013) titled "Time Remains". Abstract: Even classically, it is not entirely clear how one should understand the implications of general covariance for the role of time in physical theory. On one popular view, the essential lesson is that change is relational in a strong sense, such that all that it is for a physical degree of freedom to change is for it to vary with regard to a second physical degree of freedom. This implies that there is no unique parameterziation of time slices, and also that there is no unique temporal ordering of states. At a quantum level this approach to general relativity is generally understood lead to a universe eternally frozen in an energy eigenstate. Here we will start from a different interpretation of the classical theory, and in doing so show one may avoid this acute "problem of time" in quantum gravity. Under our view, duration is still regarded as relative, but temporal succession is taken to be absolute. This is consistent with general covariance because it can be maintained only ba the addition of an arbitrary time parameter corresponding to the minimal temporal structure necessary for a succession of observations to be represented. This approach to the classical theory of gravity is argued to then lead to a relational quantization methodology, such that it is possible to conceive of dynamical observables within a theory of quantum gravity.

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