Proefschrift--Utrecht. / "Stellingen": [3] p. inserted. Vita. Erratum slip inserted. Bibliography: p. 140-146.

Inaug.-diss.--Broslau. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 89-90.

Thèse--Universit́e de Paris.

The Kodama state is unique in being an exact solution to all the constraints of quantum gravity that also has a well defined semi-classical interpretation as the quantum version of a classical spacetime, namely de Sitter or anti-de sitter space. Despite this, the state fails to pass some of the key tests of a physically realistic quantum state. In an attempt to resolve this problem, we track down the root of the problem to a choice for a particular parameter: the Immirzi parameter. The Kodama state takes this parameter to be complex, whereas modern formulations of canonical quantum gravity require that the parameter is real. We generalize the Kodama state to real values of the Immirzi parameter, and find that the generalization opens up a large Hilbert space of states, one of which can be directly interpreted as particular slicing of de Sitter space. We then show that these states resolve, or are expected to resolve many of the problems associated with the original version of Kodama state. In order to resolve the interpretation of the multitude of states, we develop a new model of covariant classical and quantum gravity where the full Lorentz group is retained as a local symmetry group, and the canonical evolution generated by the constraints has a close relation to a larger group: that de Sitter group. This formalism gives strong evidence that the multitude of generalized Kodama states can be unified into a single quantum state that is quantum de Sitter space. / text

published_or_final_version / Literary Studies / Master / Master of Arts

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"Kinds of Spaces: Poststructural Concepts and Metafictional Appropriations" emerges from studies in structural linguistics, contemporary critical theory, and metafiction and thus moves into the realms of poststructuralism and deconstruction while developing a theory of space in writing. Its central sections attempt to conceptually and physically broaden the scope of the investigation and progress from linguistic space, via inscribed space and ontological inter-space, to erotic space. Thus, "Marking a Place of Differ( )nce" concerns the poststructural redefinition of the Saussurean model with its gap between signifier and signified in the debate between Lacan and Derrida on the "Purloined Letter"; "'a spatial displacement of words"' discusses the disruption of syntax and the ensuing dissemination of letters across the page in concrete prose, particularly as they relate to narratological displacement in Raymond Federman's Double or Nothing; "From Ear to Eye" reenacts the analogy created between sound and sight in Steve Katz's The Exagggerations of Peter Prince, which attempts an erosion of ontological and spatial boundaries in the text; "The Body, the Book, and the Supplement of Supplements" addresses the physical space between reader and book, the uniting of their bodies, and is based on Rousseau's concept of the supplement, Foucault's notion of the gaze, and Baudrillard's discussion of seduction.These central sections are framed by: "The Blank in Writing," which develops a theory of blank space in writing mostly drawing on Derridean concepts and applying them to a reading of the Mobv Dick chapter "The Whiteness of the Whale," and "The Topography of Writing," which, while focussing on the relationship between space and time, discusses Raymond Federman's The Voice in the Closet, a typographical tour de force which incorporates blank space. At the end, a "Postscript" attempts to assess the blank's sign quality as it emerges as integral constituent to each concept discussed. / Department of English

Abstract is not available.