Authors: Dave Pandres
Publish Date: 2009/03/27
Volume: 41, Issue: 11, Pages: 2501-2528
Abstract
The covariance group for general relativity the diffeomorphisms is replaced by a group of coordinate transformations which contains the diffeomorphisms as a proper subgroup The larger group is defined by the assumption that all observers will agree whether any given quantity is conserved Alternatively and equivalently it is defined by the assumption that all observers will agree that the general relativistic wave equation describes the propagation of light Thus the group replacement is analogous to the replacement of the Lorentz group by the diffeomorphisms that led Einstein from special relativity to general relativity and is also consistent with the assumption of constant light velocity that led him to special relativity The enlarged covariance group leads to a noncommutative geometry based not on a manifold but on a nonlocal space in which paths rather than points are the most primitive invariant entities This yields a theory which unifies the gravitational and electroweak interactions The theory contains no adjustable parameters such as those that are chosen arbitrarily in the standard model
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