Quantum Gravity I: Canonical General Relativity (WS 2020/21)
Lecture number: D-52451
Corona Update:
- Due to Covid-19, the lecture will happen online.
- Video recordings of the lectures using a slideshow will be provided. The slides are based on the lecture script, which can be read as an alternative.
- The content of the videos will be assigned to different weeks of the sememster, akin to a regular lecture.
- A weekly question session via zoom will be offered in addition to the video lectures.
- The format of the tutorials will be discussed in the first lecture, but it will certainly involve exercise sheets that need to be solved.
- ZOOM links as well as a link for a doodle poll to determine the dates for question sessions and tutorials will be distributed via email. Please write to norbert.bodendorfer@physik.uni-regensburg.de in order to receive these emails.
Coordinates
Lecture: videos (available in the mediathek of the University of Regensburg under "Quantum Gravity I: Canonical Quantum Gravity") and/or script
Question session: Wednesdays, 14:00 CET, Zoom
Join Question Session Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 837 3217 1235
Passcode: 645896
Tutorials: Wednesdays, 10:00 CET, Zoom
Join Tutorial
Meeting ID: 850 4093 1540
Passcode: WPZ33q
Lecture schedule
The lecture can be followed by watching the lecture videos and/or reading the script.
Both are identical up to reformatting and slight changes in wording.
Oral comments in the videos are italicised in the script.
The chapter numbers assigned below are identical in both script and video lectures.
| Week number |
Date |
Chapters |
| 1 |
Nov. 2 - Nov. 7 |
0.1 - 1.3 |
| 2 |
Nov. 9 - Nov. 14 |
2 - 2.2.2 |
| 3 |
Nov. 16 - Nov. 21 |
2.2.3 - 2.2.5 |
| 4 |
Nov. 23 - Nov. 28 |
2.3 - 2.3.6 |
| 5 |
Nov. 30 - Dec. 4 |
2.3.7. - 2.3.8 |
| 6 |
Dec. 7 - Dec. 11 |
3.1 - 3.2 |
| 7 |
Dec. 14 - Dec. 18 |
4.1 - 4.2 |
| 8 |
Dec. 21 - Jan. 8 |
4.3 - 4.4 |
| 9 |
Jan. 11 - Jan. 15 |
4.5 - 4.8 |
| 10 |
Jan. 18 - Jan. 22 |
4.9 - 4.11 |
| 11 |
Jan. 25 - Jan. 29 |
5 - 5.1 |
| 12 |
Feb. 1 - Feb. 5 |
5.2 |
| 13 |
Feb. 8 - Feb. 12 |
5.3 - 5.4 |
Exercises
Exercises are assigned to be worked on during the week number above and to be presented in the following week.
Bonus questions are harder and meant as an optional challenge.
Lecture notes
(containing small corrections / additions w.r.t. last year)
General information
This is the first part of a three-part lecture introducing loop quantum gravity and string theory.
Minimum requirements: Classical mechanics, special relativity
A rough knowledge of quantum mechanics and general relativty would be beneficial (although not mandatory).
Contents of part I:
- Constrained Hamiltonian systems
- Generally covariant Hamiltonian systems
- Brief introductions to differential geometry and general relativity
- Canonical general relativity
Contents fo part II:
- Quantisation of constrained Hamiltonian systems
- Lie groups, in particular SU(2)
- Quantum cosmology
- Canonical quantisation of general relativity in the connection formulation
- Geometric operators and quantum geometry
- Application to black hole entropy
Contents fo part III:
- String Theory (by Prof. Dr. Andreas Schäfer)