Spacetime boundaries do not break diffeomorphism and gauge symmetries
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arXiv
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| Auteurs principaux: | , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866912886257876992 |
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| author | François, J. Ravera, L. |
| author_facet | François, J. Ravera, L. |
| contents | In General Relativity and gauge field theory, one often encounters a claim, which may be called the boundary problem, according to which "boundaries break diffeomorphism and gauge symmetries". We argue that this statement has the same conceptual structure as the hole argument, and is thus likewise defused by the point-coincidence argument: We show that the boundary problem dissolves once it is understood that a physical region, thus its boundary, is relationally and invariantly defined. This insight can be technically implemented via the Dressing Field Method, a systematic tool to exhibit the gauge-invariant content of general-relativistic gauge field theories, whereby physical field-theoretical degrees of freedom co-define each other and define, coordinatize, the physical spacetime. We illustrate our claim with a simple application to the case of General Relativity. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_20945 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Spacetime boundaries do not break diffeomorphism and gauge symmetries François, J. Ravera, L. General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Theory In General Relativity and gauge field theory, one often encounters a claim, which may be called the boundary problem, according to which "boundaries break diffeomorphism and gauge symmetries". We argue that this statement has the same conceptual structure as the hole argument, and is thus likewise defused by the point-coincidence argument: We show that the boundary problem dissolves once it is understood that a physical region, thus its boundary, is relationally and invariantly defined. This insight can be technically implemented via the Dressing Field Method, a systematic tool to exhibit the gauge-invariant content of general-relativistic gauge field theories, whereby physical field-theoretical degrees of freedom co-define each other and define, coordinatize, the physical spacetime. We illustrate our claim with a simple application to the case of General Relativity. |
| title | Spacetime boundaries do not break diffeomorphism and gauge symmetries |
| topic | General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.20945 |