arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to David Wichmann.
Motivated by the properties of the descent polynomials, which enumerate permutations of $S_n$ with a fixed descent set, we define descent polynomials for labeled rooted trees. We give recursive and explicit formulas for these polynomials and show when known properties of the descent polynomials carry over to the setting of trees.
We extend the Born-Oppenheimer type of approximation scheme for the Wheeler-DeWitt equation of canonical quantum gravity to arbitrary orders in the inverse Planck mass squared. We discuss in detail the origin of unitarity violation in this scheme and show that unitarity can be restored by an appropriate modification which requires back reaction from matter onto the gravitational sector. In our analysis, we heavily rely on the gauge aspects of the standard Born-Oppenheimer scheme in molecular physics.