Superselection rule for the cosmological constant in three-dimensional spacetime

Abstract

Efforts to understand the origin of the cosmological constant Λ and its observed value have led to consider it as a dynamical field rather than as a universal constant. Then the possibility arises that the universe, or regions of it, might be in a superposition of quantum states with different values of Λ, so that its actual value would not be definite. There appears to be no argument to rule out this possibility for a generic spacetime dimension D. However, as proved herein, for D=3 there exists a superselection rule that forbids such superpositions. The proof is based on the asymptotic symmetry algebra.

arXiv comment7 pages, 1 table

References in corpus (3)

• Black Hole Entropy from Near-Horizon Microstates
• The asymptotic dynamics of three-dimensional Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant
• On Galilei Invariance in Quantum Mechanics and the Bargmann Superselection Rule

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