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On the path towards quantum gravity we find friction between temporal relations in quantum mechanics (QM) (where they are fixed and field-independent), and in general relativity (where they are field-dependent and dynamic). In this talk, I will erase that distinction. I encode gravity, along with other types of interactions, in the timeless configuration space of spatial fields, with dynamics obtained through a path integral formulation. The framework demands that boundary conditions for this path integral be uniquely given. Such uniqueness arises if a reduced configuration space can be defined and if it has a profoundly asymmetric fundamental structure. These requirements place strong restrictions on the field and symmetry content of theories encompassed here. When these constraints are met, the emerging theory has no non-unitary measurement process; the Born rule is given merely by a particular volume element built from the path integral in (reduced) configuration space. Time, including space-time, emerges as an effective concept; valid for certain curves in configuration space but not assumed from the start. When some notion of time becomes available, conservation of (positive) probability currents ensues. I will show that, in the appropriate limits, a Schroedinger equation dictates the evolution of weakly coupled source fields on a classical gravitational background. Due to the asymmetry of reduced configuration space, these probabilities and currents avoid a known difficulty of standard WKB approximations for Wheeler DeWitt in minisuperspace: the selection of a unique Hamilton-Jacobi solution to serve as background. I illustrate these constructions with a simple example of a quantum gravitational theory for which the formalism is applicable, and give a formula for calculating gravitational semi-classical relative probabilities in it. Although this simple model gives the same likelihood for the evolution of all TT gravitational modes, there is evidence that a slightly more complicated model would favor modes with the smallest eigenvalues of the Laplacian and thus drive towards homogeneity.

I will present results on the quantization of an FRLW model that utilises a Schrodinger-type evolution equation. In contrast to standard Wheeler--DeWitt-type quantisations, the quantum model resolves the classical singularity, exhibits a quantum bounce, and displays novel early-universe phenomenology. A global scale emerges because of a scale anomaly, and suggests an interesting scenario for quantum shape dynamics. I will give the details of the quantization procedure and show how these techniques can be used more generally for anisotropic models. I will end by speculating about how these techniques might be applicable to a genuine quantum shape model of the universe.

I will with simple examples from spatially homogeneous and isotropic cosmology illustrate the importance of respecting the global features of a state space for a given model when reformulating field equations to useful dynamical systems. In particular I will use examples from f(R) gravity and GR with a minimally coupled scalar field. In this context I will also illustrate how various dynamical systems methods, such as, e.g., monotonic functions, center manifold techniques, averaging methods, can yield a global understanding of the solution spaces as well as approximations, complementing, e.g., the slow-roll approximation.

I will show how the intrinsic definition of observables in relativity through dynamical similiarity (known as Shape Dynamics) leads to the continuation of Einstein's equations classically through the big bang singularity in simple cosmological scenarios. By appealing to general principles I argue that this is a generic feature, and that the singularity can be viewed as an artifact of the redundant description imposed by absolute length scales. I will then lay out some other welcome features of intrinsic relational systems, and discuss the broader questions raised by a theory of physics that is independent of physical dimensions such as mass and length.

I will discuss the use of (functional) Renormalization Group in models of quantum gravity. I will highlight the challenges that occur in continuum approaches to quantum gravity, such as asymptotically safe gravity, as well as challenges in discrete approaches, such as tensor models.