1306.5816 (Edward Anderson)

Problem of Time: Facets and Machian Strategy    [PDF]

Edward Anderson

The Problem of Time in Quantum Gravity is that `time' in GR and `time' in ordinary quantum theory are mutually incompatible notions, which is problematic in trying to put these two theories together to form a theory of Quantum Gravity. It has 8 facets, of which I reconceptualize and re-name the following. The Frozen Formalism Problem as Temporal Relationalism, the Thin Sandwich Problem as Configurational Relationalism via Best Matching, the Problem of Observables as the Problem of Beables, the Functional Evolution Problem as the Constraint Closure Problem, and I point out multiplicity of the Global and Multiple-Choice Problems of Time. This article contains a local resolution to the Problem of Time at the conceptual level and which is actually realizable for the relational triangle and minisuperspace models. This resolution is, moreover, Machian, and has three levels: classical, semiclassical and combined semiclassical-histories-records. The current frontiers of this program toward resolution of the Problem of Time in full GR are sharply delineated.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1306.5816