High Energy Theory Seminar

The canonical quantization of gravitational systems is famously difficult due to the presence of the Hamiltonian and diffeomorphism constraints, which introduce a number of ambiguities in the definition of the quantum theory. In this talk I will address some of the subtleties that go into the canonical quantization of gravitational systems by examining the case of de Sitter JT gravity. Along the way, I will map out the full phase space of the theory before presenting a partial gauge fixing which makes the theory particularly simple to study in the sectors of the phase space we are interested in. I will then go on to discuss the procedure for quantizing the theory, including two different representations for the physical Hilbert space as well as a number of options for the inner product with various benefits and drawbacks.

The talk is in 469 Lauritsen.

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