The Quantum Mechanics of Spherically Symmetric Causal DiamondsConfirmed

by Temple He (Caltech)

Tuesday Oct 1, 2024, 2:00 p.m. → 3:30 p.m. America/Toronto

PI/4-400 - Space Room (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

We construct the phase space of a spherically symmetric causal diamond in (d+2)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. Utilizing the covariant phase space formalism, we identify the relevant degrees of freedom that localize to the d-dimensional bifurcate horizon and, upon canonical quantization, determine their commutators. On this phase space, we find two Iyer-Wald charges. The first of these charges, proportional to the area of the causal diamond, is responsible for shifting the null time along the horizon and has been well-documented in the literature. The second charge is much less understood, being integrable for d ≥ 2 only if we allow for field-dependent diffeomorphisms and is responsible for changing the size of the causal diamond.