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This thesis is a study of classical and quantum gravity with Ashtekar variables. The Ashtekar constraints are shown to capture the essence of the constraints and constraint algebra of General Relativity in four dimensions. A classification scheme of the solution space of the Ashtekar constraints is proposed and the corresponding physics is investigated. The manifestly covariant equations of motion for the Ashtekar variables are derived. Explicit examples are discussed and new classical solutions of General Relativity are constructed by exploiting the properties of the Ashtekar variables. Non-perturbative canonical quantization of the theory is performed. The ordering of the quantum constraints as well as the formal closure of the quantum constraint algebra are explored. A detailed Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) analysis of the theory is given. The results demonstrate explicitly that in quantum gravity, fluctuations in topology can occur and there are strong evidences of phases in the theory. There is a phase which is described by a topological quantum field theory (TQFT) of the Donaldson-Witten type and an Abelian antiinstanton phase wherein self-interactions of the gravitational fields produce symmetry breaking from SO(3) to U(1). The full theory is much richer and includes fluctuations which bring the system out of the various restricted sectors while preserving diffeomorphism invariance. Invariants of the quantum theory with are constructed through BRST descents. They provide a clear and systematic characterization of non-local observables in quantum gravity, and can yield further differential invariants of four-manifolds. / Ph. D.

The phenomenon of scale dependent spectral dimension has attracted special interest in the quantum gravity community over the last eight years. It was first observed in computer simulations of the causal dynamical triangulation (CDT) approach to quantum gravity and refers to the reduction of the spectral dimension from 4 at classical scales to 2 at short distances. Thereafter several authors confirmed a similar result from different approaches to quantum gravity. Despite the contribution from different approaches, no analytical model was proposed to explain the numerical results as the continuum limit of CDT. In this thesis we introduce graph ensembles as toy models of CDT and show that both the continuum limit and a scale dependent spectral dimension can be defined rigorously. First we focus on a simple graph ensemble, the random comb. It does not have any dynamics from the gravity point of view, but serves as an instructive toy model to introduce the characteristic scale of the graph, study the continuum limit and define the scale dependent spectral dimension. Having defined the continuum limit, we study the reduction of the spectral dimension on more realistic toy models, the multigraph ensembles, which serve as a radial approximation of CDT. We focus on the (recurrent) multigraph approximation of the two-dimensional CDT whose ensemble measure is analytically controlled. The latter comes from the critical Galton-Watson process conditioned on non-extinction. Next we turn our attention to transient multigraph ensembles, corresponding to higher-dimensional CDT. Firstly we study their fractal properties and secondly calculate the scale dependent spectral dimension and compare it to computer simulations. We comment further on the relation between Horava-Lifshitz gravity, asymptotic safety, multifractional spacetimes and CDT-like models.

Motiviert durch neuere Vorschläge zur experimentellen Untersuchung von Quantengravitationseffekten werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit Annahmen und Methoden untersucht, die für die Vorhersagen solcher Effekte im Rahmen der Loop-Quantengravitation verwendet werden können. Dazu wird als Modellsystem ein skalares Feld, gekoppelt an das Gravitationsfeld, betrachtet. <br /> Zunächst wird unter bestimmten Annahmen über die Dynamik des gekoppelten Systems eine Quantentheorie für das Skalarfeld vorgeschlagen. Unter der Annahme, dass sich das Gravitationsfeld in einem semiklassischen Zustand befindet, wird dann ein &quot;QFT auf gekrümmter Raumzeit-Limes&quot; dieser Theorie definiert. Im Gegensatz zur gewöhnlichen Quantenfeldtheorie auf gekrümmter Raumzeit beschreibt die Theorie in diesem Grenzfall jedoch ein quantisiertes Skalarfeld, das auf einem (klassisch beschriebenen) Zufallsgitter propagiert. <br /> Sodann werden Methoden vorgeschlagen, den Niederenergieliemes einer solchen Gittertheorie, vor allem hinsichtlich der resultierenden modifizierten Dispersonsrelation, zu berechnen. Diese Methoden werden anhand von einfachen Modellsystemen untersucht. <br /> Schließlich werden die entwickelten Methoden unter vereinfachenden Annahmen und der Benutzung einer speziellen Klasse von semiklassischen Zuständen angewandt, um Korrekturen zur Dispersionsrelation des skalaren und des elektromagnetischen Feldes im Rahmen der Loop-Quantengravitation zu berechnen. Diese Rechnungen haben vorläufigen Charakter, da viele Annahmen eingehen, deren Gültigkeit genauer untersucht werden muss. Zumindest zeigen sie aber Probleme und Möglichkeiten auf, im Rahmen der Loop-Quantengravitation Vorhersagen zu machen, die sich im Prinzip experimentell verifizieren lassen. / Motivated by recent proposals on the experimental detectability of quantum gravity effects, the present thesis investigates assumptions and methods which might be used for the prediction of such effects within the framework of loop quantum gravity. To this end, a scalar field coupled to gravity is considered as a model system. <br /> Starting from certain assumptions about the dynamics of the coupled gravity-matter system, a quantum theory for the scalar field is proposed. Then, assuming that the gravitational field is in a semiclassical state, a &quot;QFT on curved space-time limit&quot; of this theory is defined. In contrast to ordinary quantum field theory on curved space-time however, in this limit the theory describes a quantum scalar field propagating on a (classical) random lattice. <br /> Then, methods to obtain the low energy limit of such a lattice theory, especially regarding the resulting modified dispersion relations, are discussed and applied to simple model systems. <br /> Finally, under certain simplifying assumptions, using the methods developed before as well as a specific class of semiclassical states, corrections to the dispersion relations for the scalar and the electromagnetic field are computed within the framework of loop quantum gravity. These calculations are of preliminary character, as many assumptions enter whose validity remains to be studied more thoroughly. However they exemplify the problems and possibilities of making predictions based on loop quantum gravity that are in principle testable by experiment.

In this thesis we investigate two approaches to quantum gravity. The first is the emergence of gravity from a discrete fundamental theory, and the second is the direct quantisation of gravity. For the first we develop tools to determine with relatively high accuracy the speed of propagation of information in collective modes which ultimately should give us some information about the emergent causal structure. We found a way of finding the dependence on the relative interaction strengths of the Hamiltonian and we also managed to calculate this speed in the case where the operators in the Hamitonian were not necessarily bounded. For the second approach, we investigated the phenomenology of Loop Quantum Gravity. We found that ultra light black holes (lighter than the Planck mass) have interesting new properties on top of being non-singular. First their horizon is hidden behind a Plancksized wormhole, second their specific heat capacity is positive and they are quasi-stable, they take an infinite amount of time evaporate. We investigated the dynamics of their collapse and evaporation explicitly seeing that not only was there no singularity, but there is also no information loss problem. Looking at how primordial black holes were in existence, we found that they might account for a significant portion of dark matter. And if they did, their radiation spectrum is such that the black holes in the dark matter halo of our galaxy could be the source for the ultra high energy cosmic rays we observe on earth.

In this thesis we investigate two approaches to quantum gravity. The first is the emergence of gravity from a discrete fundamental theory, and the second is the direct quantisation of gravity. For the first we develop tools to determine with relatively high accuracy the speed of propagation of information in collective modes which ultimately should give us some information about the emergent causal structure. We found a way of finding the dependence on the relative interaction strengths of the Hamiltonian and we also managed to calculate this speed in the case where the operators in the Hamitonian were not necessarily bounded. For the second approach, we investigated the phenomenology of Loop Quantum Gravity. We found that ultra light black holes (lighter than the Planck mass) have interesting new properties on top of being non-singular. First their horizon is hidden behind a Plancksized wormhole, second their specific heat capacity is positive and they are quasi-stable, they take an infinite amount of time evaporate. We investigated the dynamics of their collapse and evaporation explicitly seeing that not only was there no singularity, but there is also no information loss problem. Looking at how primordial black holes were in existence, we found that they might account for a significant portion of dark matter. And if they did, their radiation spectrum is such that the black holes in the dark matter halo of our galaxy could be the source for the ultra high energy cosmic rays we observe on earth.

The main technical problem with background independent approaches to quantum gravity is inapplicability of standard quantum field theory methods. New methods are needed which would be adapted to the basic principles of General Relativity. Topological field theory is a model which provides natural tools for background independent quantum gravity. It is exactly soluble and, at the same time, diffeomorphism invariant. Applications of topological field theory to quantum gravity include description of boundary states of quantum General Relativity, formulation of quantum gravity as a constrained topological field theory, and a new perturbation theory which uses topological field theory as a starting point. The later is the central theme of the thesis. Unlike the traditional perturbation theory it does not require splitting metric into a background and fluctuations, it is exactly diffeomorphism invariant order by order, and the coupling constant of this theory is dimensionless. We describe the basic ideas and techniques of this perturbation theory as well as inclusion of matter particles, boundary states, and other necessary tools for studying scattering problem in background independent quantum gravity.

A dissertation submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science in ful lment of the academic requirements of the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2015. / The gauge/gravity correspondence is a conjectured exact duality between quantum eld theories and theories of quantum gravity. A very simple gauge/string duality, claims an equivalence between the Gaussian matrix model and the topological A-model string theory on P1. In this dissertation we study this duality, proposing concrete operators in the matrix model that are dual to gravitational descendants of the puncture operator of the topological string theory. We test our proposal by showing that a large number of matrix model correlators are in complete agreement with correlators in the dual topological string theory. Contact term interactions, as proposed by Gopakumar and Pius, play an interesting and non-trivial role in the duality.

In the construction of Canonical Loop Quantum Gravity, General Relativity is rewritten in terms of the Ashtekar variables to simplify its quantisation. They consist of a densitised triad and a connection terms. The latter depends by definition and by construction on a free parameter β, called the Barbero–Immirzi parameter. This freedom is passed on to the quantum theory as it appears in the expressions of certain operators. Their discreet spectra depend on the arbitrary value of this parameter β, meaning that the scale of those spectra is not uniquely defined. To get around this ambiguity, we propose to consider a theory of Conformal Loop Quantum Gravity, by imposing a local conformal symmetry through the addition of a scalar field. We construct our theory starting from the usual Einstein–Hilbert action for General Relativity to which we add the action for the massless scalar field and rewrite it in terms of a new set of Ashtekar-like variables. They are constructed through a set of canonical transformations, which allow to move the Barbero–Immirzi parameter from the connection to the scalar variable. We then show that the theory can be quantised by fulfilling the conditions for a Dirac quantisation. Finally, we present some first elements of the quantum formalism. It is expected that with such a scalar-tensor theory, the quantum operators should not depend on the free parameter directly but rather on the dynamical scalar field, solving therefore the ambiguity.

The search for a theory of quantum gravity has persisted through the last century. Although many beautiful theories such as string theory and loop quantum gravity have been proposed, experimental evidence to support or refute these theories has been difficult to obtain. Searching for Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) is one of a limited number of experimental tests which can be used to search for evidence of quantum gravity since new physics may only be observable at energies well beyond those present in the most energetic astrophysical objects, which are far greater than the energies accessible in a terrestrial laboratory. One method of searching for LIV is to look for energy-dependent time delays in the arrival of high-energy photons from distant astrophysical sources. We search for Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) using VERITAS, an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope (IACT) located in southern Arizona. Significant TeV gamma ray flaring activity was detected from the blazar Markarian 421 on the night of February 17, 2010 (MJD 55244), which presented a good opportunity to search for delays in the energetic emission. We demonstrate the performance of two different dispersion estimation algorithms and apply these algorithms to our data to search for LIV. We find that while the emission from Markarian 421 contains significant variability, a necessary condition for an LIV detection, the presence of a constant background flux severely limits our sensitivity. We expect our findings to be useful for guiding future LIV studies, especially those using IACT data. In the latter part of this work we discuss the alignment of ground-based gamma-ray telescopes and present a digital autocollimator which will be used in the alignment system of a next-generation IACT. The configuration of our autocollimator enables measurement of the angle formed between the planar surface of a distant reflector and the line of sight over a range of ±0.126° with a precision better than 5 arcsec. We present a detailed description of the instrument and its data acquisition software that was used during laboratory testing.