arXiv subjects

Gerard 't Hooft

Publications and source records attributed to Gerard 't Hooft.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Entangled quantum states in a local deterministic theory

Investigating a class of models that is familiar in studies of cellular automata, we find that quantum operators can be employed to describe their long distance behavior. These operators span a Hilbert space that appears to turn such a model into a genuine quantum field theory, obeying the usual conditions of locality in terms of its quantum commutators. Entangled states can be constructed exactly as in quantum theories. This raises the question whether such models allow Bell's inequalities to be violated. Being a local, deterministic theory, one would argue that this is impossible, but since at large distance scales the model does not seem to differ from real quantum field theories, there is reason to wonder why it should not allow entangled states. The standard arguments concerning Bell's inequalities are re-examined in this light.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

A locally finite model for gravity

Matter interacting classically with gravity in 3+1 dimensions usually gives rise to a continuum of degrees of freedom, so that, in any attempt to quantize the theory, ultraviolet divergences are nearly inevitable. Here, we investigate matter of a form that only displays a finite number of degrees of freedom in compact sections of space-time. In finite domains, one has only exact, analytic solutions. This is achieved by limiting ourselves to straight pieces of string, surrounded by locally flat sections of space-time. Globally, however, the model is not finite, because solutions tend to generate infinite fractals. The model is not (yet) quantized, but could serve as an interesting setting for analytical approaches to classical general relativity, as well as a possible stepping stone for quantum models. Details of its properties are explained, but some problems remain unsolved, such as a complete description of the most violent interactions, which can become quite complex.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Unitarity in the Brout-Englert-Higgs Mechanism for Gravity

Just like the vector bosons in Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories, gravitons can attain mass by spontaneous local symmetry breaking. The question is whether this can happen in a Lorentz-invariant way. We consider the use of four scalar fields that break coordinate reparametrization invariance, by playing the role of preferred flat coordinates x, y, z, and t. In the unbroken representation, the theory has a (negative) cosmological constant, which is tuned to zero by the scalars in the broken phase. Massive spin 2 bosons and a single massive scalar survive. The theory is not renormalizable, so at best it can be viewed as an effective field theory for massive spin 2 particles. One may think of applications in cosmology, but a more tantalizing idea is to apply it to string theory approaches to QCD: if the gluon sector is to be described by a compactified 26 or 10 dimensional bosonic string theory, then the ideas considered here could be used to describe the mechanism that removes a massless or tachyonic scalar and provides mass to the spin 2 glueball states. The delicate problem of removing indefinite metric and/or negative energy states is addressed. The scalar particle has negative metric, so that unitarity demands that only states with an even number of them are allowed. Various ways are considered to adapt the matter section of the theory such that matter only couples to positive metric states, and we succeed in suppressing the main contributions to unitarity-violating amplitudes, but the exact restoration of unitarity in the spinless sector will continue to be a delicate issue in theories of this sort.

hep-th↗

arXiv2007

Emergent Quantum Mechanics and Emergent Symmetries

Quantum mechanics is 'emergent' if a statistical treatment of large scale phenomena in a locally deterministic theory requires the use of quantum operators. These quantum operators may allow for symmetry transformations that are not present in the underlying deterministic system. Such theories allow for a natural explanation of the existence of gauge equivalence classes (gauge orbits), including the equivalence classes generated by general coordinate transformations. Thus, local gauge symmetries and general coordinate invariance could be emergent symmetries, and this might lead to new alleys towards understanding the flatness problem of the Universe.

hep-th↗

arXiv2007

The Grand View of Physics

Abdus Salam was known for his `grand views', grand views of science as well as grand views of society. In this talk the grand view of theoretical physics is put in perspective.

hep-th↗

arXiv2007

The Free-Will Postulate in Quantum Mechanics

The so-called "free will axiom" is an essential ingredient in many discussions concerning hidden variables in quantum mechanics. In this paper we argue that "free will" can be defined in different ways. The definition usually employed is clearly invalid in strictly deterministic theories. A different, more precise formulation is proposed here, defining a condition that may well be a more suitable one to impose on theoretical constructions and models. Our axiom, to be referred to as the `unconstrained initial state' condition, has consequences similar to "free will", but does not clash with determinism, and appears to lead to different conclusions concerning causality and locality in quantum mechanics. Models proposed earlier by this author fall in this category. Imposing our `unconstrained initial state' condition on a deterministic theory underlying Quantum Mechanics, appears to lead to a restricted free-will condition in the quantum system: an observer has the free will to modify the setting of a measuring device, but has no control over the phase of its wave function. The dismissal of the usual "free will" concept does not have any consequences for our views and interpretations of human activities in daily life, and the way our minds function, but it requires a more careful discussion on what, in practice, free will actually amounts to.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

The mathematical basis for deterministic quantum mechanics

If there exists a classical, i.e. deterministic theory underlying quantum mechanics, an explanation must be found of the fact that the Hamiltonian, which is defined to be the operator that generates evolution in time, is bounded from below. The mechanism that can produce exactly such a constraint is identified in this paper. It is the fact that not all classical data are registered in the quantum description. Large sets of values of these data are assumed to be indistinguishable, forming equivalence classes. It is argued that this should be attributed to information loss, such as what one might suspect to happen during the formation and annihilation of virtual black holes. The nature of the equivalence classes is further elucidated, as it follows from the positivity of the Hamiltonian. Our world is assumed to consist of a very large number of subsystems that may be regarded as approximately independent, or weakly interacting with one another. As long as two (or more) sectors of our world are treated as being independent, they all must be demanded to be restricted to positive energy states only. What follows from these considerations is a unique definition of energy in the quantum system in terms of the periodicity of the limit cycles of the deterministic model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

The black hole horizon as a dynamical system

Interactions between outgoing Hawking particles and ingoing matter are determined by gravitational forces and Standard Model interactions. In particular the gravitational interactions are responsible for the unitarity of the scattering against the horizon, as dictated by the holographic principle, but the Standard Model interactions also contribute, and understanding their effects is an important first step towards a complete understanding of the horizon's dynamics. The relation between in- and outgoing states is described in terms of an operator algebra. In this contribution, in which earlier results are rederived and elaborated upon, we first describe the algebra induced on the horizon by U(1) vector fields and scalar fields, including the case of an Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism, and a more careful consideration of the transverse vector field components. We demonstrate that, unlike classical black holes, the quantized black hole has on its horizon an imprint of its (recent) past history, i.e., quantum hair. The relation between in- and outgoing states depends on this imprint. As a first step towards the inclusion of non-Abelian interactions, we then compute the effects of magnetic monopoles both in the in-states and in the out-states. They completely modify, and indeed simplify, our algebra.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2006

Invariance under complex transformations, and its relevance to the cosmological constant problem

In this paper we study a new symmetry argument that results in a vacuum state with strictly vanishing vacuum energy. This argument exploits the well-known feature that de Sitter and Anti- de Sitter space are related by analytic continuation. When we drop boundary and hermiticity conditions on quantum fields, we get as many negative as positive energy states, which are related by transformations to complex space. The paper does not directly solve the cosmological constant problem, but explores a new direction that appears worthwhile.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2004

Confinement at Large Nc

A discussion is given of the confinement mechanism in terms of the Abelian projection scheme, for a general number Nc of colors. There is a difficulty in the Nc to infinity limit that requires a careful treatment, as the charges of the condensing magnetic monopoles tend to infinity. We suggest that Bose condensation of electric or magnetic charges is indicative for the kind of confinement that takes place, but the actual mechanism of confinement depends on other features as well.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Minimal Strings for Baryons

A simple model is discussed in which baryons are represented as pieces of open string connected at one common point. There are two surprises: one is that, in the conformal gauge, the relative lengths of the three arms cannot be kept constant, but are dynamical variables of the theory. The second surprise (as reported earlier by Sharov) is that, in the classical limit, the state with the three arms of length not equal to zero is unstable against collapse of one of the arms. After collapse, an arm cannot bounce back into existence. The implications of this finding are briefly discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Renormalization without infinities

Most renormalizable quantum field theories can be rephrased in terms of Feynman diagrams that only contain dressed irreducible 2-, 3-, and 4-point vertices. These irreducible vertices in turn can be solved from equations that also only contain dressed irreducible vertices. The diagrams and equations that one ends up with do not contain any ultraviolet divergences. The original bare Lagrangian of the theory only enters in terms of freely adjustable integration constants. It is explained how the procedure proposed here is related to the renormalization group equations. The procedure requires the identification of unambiguous "paths" in a Feynman diagrams, and it is shown how to define such paths in most of the quantum field theories that are in use today. We do not claim to have a more convenient calculational scheme here, but rather a scheme that allows for a better conceptual understanding of ultraviolet infinities. Dedicated to Paul Frampton's 60th birthday

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Horizons

The gravitational force harbours a fundamental instability against collapse. In standard General Relativity without Quantum Mechanics, this implies the existence of black holes as natural, stable solutions of Einstein's equations. If one attempts to quantize the gravitational force, one should also consider the question how Quantum Mechanics affects the behaviour of black holes. In this lecture, we concentrate on the horizon. One would have expected that its properties could be derived from general coordinate transformations out of a vacuum state. In contrast, it appears that much new physics is needed. Much of that is still poorly understood, but one may speculate on the way information is organized at a horizon, and how refined versions of Quantum Theory may lead to answers.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

Determinism beneath Quantum Mechanics

Contrary to common belief, it is not difficult to construct deterministic models where stochastic behavior is correctly described by quantum mechanical amplitudes, in precise accordance with the Copenhagen-Bohr-Bohm doctrine. What is difficult however is to obtain a Hamiltonian that is bounded from below, and whose ground state is a vacuum that exhibits complicated vacuum fluctuations, as in the real world. Beneath Quantum Mechanics, there may be a deterministic theory with (local) information loss. This may lead to a sufficiently complex vacuum state, and to an apparent non-locality in the relation between the deterministic ("ontological") states and the quantum states, of the kind needed to explain away the Bell inequalities. Theories of this kind would not only be appealing from a philosophical point of view, but may also be essential for understanding causality at Planckian distance scales.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2002

On Peculiarities and Pit Falls in Path Integrals

Path integrals can be rigorously defined only in low dimensional systems where the small distance limit can be taken. Particularly non-trivial models in more than four dimensions can only be handled with considerable amount of speculation. In this lecture we try to put these various aspects in perspective.

hep-th↗

arXiv2002

Perturbative Confinement

A Procedure is outlined that may be used as a starting point for a perturbative treatment of theories with permanent confinement. By using a counter term in the Lagrangian that renormalizes the infrared divergence in the Coulomb potential, it is achieved that the perturbation expansion at a finite value of the strong coupling constant may yield reasonably accurate properties of hadrons, and an expression for the string constant as a function of the QCD Lambda parameter.

hep-th↗

arXiv2001

Quantum Mechanics and Determinism

It is shown how to map the quantum states of a system of free scalar particles one-to-one onto the states of a completely deterministic model. It is a classical field theory with a large (global) gauge group. The mapping is now also applied to free Maxwell fields. Lorentz invariance is demonstrated.

hep-th↗

arXiv2001

How Does God Play Dice? (Pre-)Determinism at the Planck Scale

In deterministic theories, one can start from a set of ontological states to formulate the dynamical laws, but these may not be directly observable. Observable are only equivalence classes of states, and these will span a basis of "beables", to be promoted to an orthonormal basis of Hilbert Space. After transforming this basis to a more conventional basis, a theory may result that is fundamentally quantum mechanical. It is conjectured that the quantum laws of the real world may be understood from exactly such a procedure.

hep-th↗