Schwarzian quantum mechanics as a Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction of BF theory

We give an interpretation of the holographic correspondence between two-dimensional BF theory on the punctured disk with gauge group PSL(2, ℝ) and Schwarzian quantum mechanics in terms of a Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction. The latter, in turn, is equivalent to the presence of certain edge states imposing a first class constraint on the model. The constrained path integral localizes over exceptional Virasoro coadjoint orbits. The reduced theory is governed by the Schwarzian action functional generating a Hamiltonian S1-action on the orbits. The partition function is given by a sum over topological sectors (corresponding to the exceptional orbits), each of which is computed by a formal Duistermaat-Heckman integral.

Dirac’s Method for the Two-Dimensional Damped Harmonic Oscillator in the Extended Phase Space

The system of a two-dimensional damped harmonic oscillator is revisited in the extended phase space. It is an old problem that has already been addressed by many authors that we present here with some fresh points of view and carry on a whole discussion. We show that the system is singular. The classical Hamiltonian is proportional to the first-class constraint. We pursue with the Dirac’s canonical quantization procedure by fixing the gauge and provide a reduced phase space description of the system. As a result, the quantum system is simply modeled by the original quantum Hamiltonian.

Cosmological Constant from Condensation of Defect Excitations

A key challenge for many quantum gravity approaches is to construct states that describe smooth geometries on large scales. Here we define a family of (2+1)-dimensional quantum gravity states which arise from curvature excitations concentrated at point like defects and describe homogeneously curved geometries on large scales. These states represent therefore vacua for three-dimensional gravity with different values of the cosmological constant. They can be described by an anomaly-free first class constraint algebra quantized on one and the same Hilbert space for different values of the cosmological constant. A similar construction is possible in four dimensions, in this case the curvature is concentrated along string-like defects and the states are vacua of the Crane-Yetter model. We will sketch applications for quantum cosmology and condensed matter.