We give a Lefschetz thimble definition of the Chern--Simons--Kodama wavefunctional in Lorentzian self-dual gravity with positive cosmological constant. By complexifying the connection and choosing the Lefschetz thimble attached to the self-dual de~Sitter saddle, Witten's analytic continuation of Chern--Simons theory replaces the real contour, on which the defining integral is at best conditionally convergent, by an absolutely convergent integration cycle and yields a controlled semiclassical expansion. The relevant integrand is the full holomorphic exponential $e^{I}$, with $I=κY_{\rm CS}+(\text{source})$, and the steepest descent flow is governed by the Morse function $h=\operatorname{Re} I$. In the homogeneous isotropic de Sitter reduction, the construction reproduces the Hartle--Hawking Airy wavefunction. In the Bianchi~IX truncation, we take the Lefschetz thimble attached to the expanding de~Sitter saddle (the contracting branch defines a conjugate Lefschetz thimble); within this sector, the symmetric configuration is the only critical point for $Λ>0$. The corresponding Lefschetz thimble contains one trace direction with the FRW Airy structure and two anisotropic shear directions that are real-Gaussian damped at leading quadratic order. This gives a finite Bianchi~IX wavefunction which, to leading order, is the FRW Airy factor multiplied by a real anisotropy Gaussian. Thus, the Airy behavior is not an artifact of the one-dimensional minisuperspace reduction, but the leading form of the wavefunction on the Lefschetz thimble. We also discuss how the Lefschetz thimble prescription interfaces with Lorentzian reality conditions.
We give a Lefschetz thimble definition of the Chern--Simons--Kodama wavefunctional in Lorentzian self-dual gravity with positive cosmological constant. By complexifying the connection and choosing the Lefschetz thimble attached to the self-dual deSitter saddle, Witten's analytic continuation of Chern--Simons theory replaces the real contour, on which the defining integral is at best conditionally convergent, by an absolutely convergent integration cycle and yields a controlled semiclassical expansion. The relevant integrand is the full holomorphic exponential eI, with I=κYCS+(source), and the steepest descent flow is governed by the Morse function h=ReI. In the homogeneous isotropic de Sitter reduction, the construction reproduces the Hartle--Hawking Airy wavefunction. In the BianchiIX truncation, we take the Lefschetz thimble attached to the expanding deSitter saddle (the contracting branch defines a conjugate Lefschetz thimble); within this sector, the symmetric configuration is the only critical point for Λ>0. The corresponding Lefschetz thimble contains one trace direction with the FRW Airy structure and two anisotropic shear directions that are real-Gaussian damped at leading quadratic order. This gives a finite BianchiIX wavefunction which, to leading order, is the FRW Airy factor multiplied by a real anisotropy Gaussian. Thus, the Airy behavior is not an artifact of the one-dimensional minisuperspace reduction, but the leading form of the wavefunction on the Lefschetz thimble. We also discuss how the Lefschetz thimble prescription interfaces with Lorentzian reality conditions.
Real-time path integrals provide a natural formulation of quantum dynamics also in situations where a Hamiltonian description is unavailable or impractical, but their direct evaluation is obstructed by severe phase cancellation from the oscillatory weight.A guiding theme of this thesis is that, after complexifying the integration variables, real-time path integrals are naturally organized by complex saddle points.In favorable cases the original contour can be replaced by steepest-descent manifolds (Lefschetz thimbles) attached to the relevant saddles, providing a controlled saddle-based description of real-time observables.In Part I, we study quantum decoherence in a closed-system real-time path-integral formulation: the total system (subsystem plus environment) evolves unitarily, and the environment is traced out only at the final time to obtain the reduced density matrix.For the Caldeira-Leggett model with Gaussian initial conditions, the discretized effective action becomes a quadratic form, so that the reduced density matrix is characterized by a complex saddle point and the thimble integral reduces to a finite-dimensional Gaussian integral.The complex saddle is obtained by solving a large but sparse linear system, allowing an exact evaluation of the reduced density matrix without relying on the usual master-equation approximations.We then extend this methodology to a three-dimensional cubic lattice toy model by separating center-of-mass and relative coordinates, treating the center-of-mass mode as the subsystem and the relative modes as an effective environment.This enables controlled numerical studies of how the suppression of off-diagonal matrix elements depends on the coupling, inverse temperature, and system size, and allows us to extract the early-time scaling behavior of decoherence diagnostics from the complex-saddle evaluation.In Part II, we investigate spacetime dynamics in the Lorentzian IKKT matrix model.To define a Lorentzian formulation that is not continuously connected to the Euclidean model by the standard contour deformation, we include a Lorentz invariant mass term with coefficient γ, for which the classical equations admit real, smooth, expanding solutions when γ > 0. Since the Lorentz group is noncompact, the path integral can contain a divergent volume from the boost directions; we remove this volume nonperturbatively by implementing a boost "gauge-fixing" that selects the frame minimizing tr(A 0 ) 2 , leading to the condition tr(A 0 A i ) = 0 with the associated Faddeev-Popov determinant.We then apply the complex Langevin method to the resulting complex-weight matrix integral.Time and spatial observables are defined from matrix configurations, with holomorphic time ordering implemented by auxiliary variables, and spatial structure characterized through block observables such as the extent R 2 (t) and the moment-of-inertia tensor.In the bosonic model we find approximately real time and no indication of spontaneous breaking of the spatial symmetry in the i parameter range studied.Including fermions, we control the singular-drift problem induced by the Pfaffian by introducing a fermionic mass regulator m f and an anisotropic mass deformation, which enhances fermionic effects while maintaining numerical stability.In this setup we observe a real, expanding spatial extent and a dynamical dominance of three spatial directions at late times, consistent with a (3 + 1)-dimensional expanding spacetime.We finally discuss the intended limiting procedure-taking the large-N limit first and then approaching the undeformed theory-and comment on future directions, including a comparison with partially supersymmetric deformations that preserve 16 supercharges.
Describing dynamics in a gravitational universe with positive cosmological constant, such as de Sitter space, is a conceptually challenging problem. We propose a principle for constructing a quantum system that can potentially be used to study this question. This quantum system describes a heavy object in such a universe interacting with its environment, to which gauge invariant dynamical observables can be anchored. In order to describe gravity with positive cosmological constant, the proposed quantum system needs to agree with all known semiclassical results. We investigate this with a particular microscopic realization constructed using SYK. We first find that correlators match the classical limit of gravity, given by quantum fields in rigid de Sitter space. In particular, the usual UV behavior of quantum fields is surprisingly reproduced by the quantum mechanical system. In order to probe small effects in the gravitational constant, we also consider the intrinsically dynamical out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs). These correspond to gravitational scattering in the bulk away from the worldline associated with the quantum system. Such OTOCs have highly non-trivial features in de Sitter space, including a Lyapunov exponent which is twice as big as the maximal chaos exponent from the bound on chaos, as well as an unusual behavior of the coefficients in various OTOCs. Interestingly, we find that these features are reproduced by the quantum system.
This work presents a logically closed theoretical framework that unifies the geometric structure of General Relativity (GR) with the axiomatic foundations of quantum mechanics and the emergence of observable forces, organized in three interconnected modules. I. GR / CQG Geometric Backbone The framework is rooted in GR/CQG fields. A primary chain defines topological invariants via connection A and curvature F: Connection A and curvature F → Chern-Weil invariant, defined as the trace of the wedge product of F with itself (tr(F wedge F)) This leads to the Chern-Simons functional CS(A), with the topological current defined as the Hodge dual of CS (K = *CS) These constructs yield a projected current / force seat, which provides the topological basis for force interactions. A parallel boundary chain establishes the geometric basis for quantization: The boundary symplectic form induces a period lattice, defined as Per(Omega) = 2 pi hbar Z This lattice structure supports the construction of a prequantum line bundle The prequantum bundle then defines Hilbert space sectors and their associated projection operators, forming the stage for quantum mechanics. II. Quantum Axiomatization and Bell Branch From the geometric backbone, we derive the quantum structure of spin and entanglement: A GR boundary spin endpoint carries an SU(2) residual surface charge J, with a fixed Casimir invariant |J| = s This charge defines a KKS orbit SU(2)/U(1) = S2, which selects the minimal spin branch s = hbar/2, corresponding to the V1/2 representation The tensor product of two V1/2 endpoints yields a total trivial SU(2) charge, forming a singlet sector with invariant space Inv = V0 Applying the Born projection measure to this singlet sector recovers the Bell/Tsirelson correlation function E(a,b) = -a dot b, with no-signaling conditions automatically preserved, as marginal distributions are independent of remote measurement settings. III. Response, Force, Normalization, and Data Anchors The framework connects topological structure to observable physics and experimental data: A thermodynamic free-energy route leads to a resonance / linear response route, which feeds into the CS transgression current route These yield the projected equivalence relation P_top J = lambda K_CS, where the projected current J is proportional to the Chern-Simons current K_CS via the coupling constant lambda This relation defines a rank-two force/current seat, providing a concrete realization of topological forces. The coupling lambda is normalized via physical gauge matching, linking to the electromagnetic U(1) branch defined by e^2 = 4 pi alpha, where alpha is the fine-structure constant. This connection enables low-energy Hamiltonian tests, anchoring the framework to experimental data including neutrino holonomy, SPARC measurements, and Bell/geometric phase tests. The program achieves conditional closure across all branches. Remaining hard tasks include full parent-action endpoint selection, minimal Casimir selection, and likelihood-level experimental constraints.
Perturbative quantum gravity is ultraviolet divergent and, as shown by 't Hooft and Veltman, non-renormalizable. A recent object-relative, Lorentz-invariant weighting of internal electromagnetic modes renders selected one-loop contributions of quantum electrodynamics finite without counterterms. Here that weighting is derived rather than postulated: causality defines a mode resonator bounded by the Hubble radius and re-defined in every inertial frame, and the self-gravitation of each mode quantum deforms its spectrum. Applied to linearized gravity, the graviton self-coupling reaches order unity at the Planck wave number, so that the mode content available to a loop is suppressed beyond it. Any suppression exceeding a threshold fixed by the diagram renders the one-loop integrals finite; no cutoff is imposed and no mode structure above the Planck scale need be derived. For pure gravity the same power counting extends to every loop order, and the leading suppression already meets the resulting condition for every topology with more than one vertex; a single class of single-vertex insertions is excluded. The Bianchi identity takes the role of the Ward identity at one loop, and the transformation between the resonators of two inertial frames is unitary. The same finite mode content yields a vacuum energy density of order H^2/G, of the observed sign and magnitude, from the Planck and causal infrared wave numbers alone. A contribution tracking the instantaneous expansion rate is an exact rescaling of the gravitational constant and is excluded by primordial nucleosynthesis, so the mode basis must be frozen in any inertial system; referring it to the stationary de Sitter horizon fixes the remaining coefficient to the geometric value 6/pi and makes a value for the energy density of gravitational vacuum fluctuations possible which can be interpreted as origin of the dark-energy effect.
A bstract We study QED 2 in de Sitter space as a minimal interacting gauge theory in which cosmological expansion directly competes with quantum dynamics. In cosmic time, the hopping redshifts as 1/ a ( t ) while the electric term grows as g 2 a ( t ), sweeping the spectrum through a moving narrow-gap region in the ( τ , m ) plane. Exact diagonalization shows that this defines a pseudo-critical line governing the loss of adiabaticity, excitation growth, and redshifted response. Using matrix-product states at a fixed mass, we separate the fixed-cutoff thermodynamic limit from the continuum extrapolation. The late-time dip survives in the infinite physical box size limit, and shifts to later τ as the lattice spacing goes to zero, with current data favoring τ ∗ ≈ 3.1, while the dip depth remains less controlled. For Gibbs initial states, the same mechanism produces an irreversibility front in the relative entropy that tracks the pseudo-critical line and is detectable via LOCC-accessible observables. These results identify de Sitter QED 2 as a controlled setting for linking curved-space gauge dynamics, near-critical spectral structure, and operational irreversibility.
The DeWitt boundary condition can be implemented in the Lorentzian path integral of minisuperspace quantum cosmology by summing only over non-singular paths. In this paper, we present a general definition of the resulting DeWitt kernels, along with specific rules for their construction, and evaluate them rigorously. The lapse integral over the positive half-line yields the Dirichlet Green function of the Wheeler--DeWitt operator, whereas the integral over the whole real line yields the Dirichlet group-averaging kernel; both vanish when either endpoint lies at the singularity. Since the minisuperspace actions are at most quadratic, all lapse integrals are performed in closed form without saddle-point approximations. We obtain the kernels for the closed universe without cosmological constant, for the flat de Sitter universe, and, in terms of Airy functions, for the closed and open de Sitter universes. Throughout, the DeWitt condition is imposed as the boundary condition at the singularity, which selects a self-adjoint constraint operator on the half-line and fixes the kernels uniquely, including their normalization.