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JT Gravity on a Finite Lorentzian Strip: Time dependent Quantum Gravity Amplitudes

by Jose Alejandro Rosabal Rodriguez

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Authors (as registered SciPost users):

Jose Alejandro Rosabal Rodriguez

Abstract

We formulate JT quantum gravity on a finite Lorentzian strip. Due to the spatial boundaries of the strip, it is possible to define left and right proper times. With respect to these times we compute non-perturbatively the quantum gravity (QG) time dependent transition amplitude. Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations are presented. Special attention is paid to the four corner terms (Hayward terms) in the action that are needed in order to have a well defined variational problem. From a detailed analysis of the gravity boundary condition on the spatial boundary, we find that while the lapse and the shift functions are independent Lagrange multipliers on the bulk, on the spatial boundary, these two are related. This fact leads to an algebraic equation of motion for a particular degree of freedom that is conveniently introduced on the spatial boundaries whose solution can be plugged back into the action allowing to fully determine the time dependent transition amplitude. The final result suggests that time evolution is non-unitary for most of the boundary conditions. Interestingly enough, unitary could be recovered when spatial $\text{AdS}_2$ boundary conditions are imposed. Other wave functions for other topologies obtained from the strip by gluing its spatial boundaries are also presented. Remarkably these do not exhibit any non-unitary evolution behavior.