Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Vol. 90, No. 1, 2000, pp. 1–16. Translated from Zhurnal Éksperimental’noœ i Teoreticheskoœ Fiziki, Vol. 117, No. 1, 2000, pp. 5–21. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2000 by Vergeles. GRAVITATION, ASTROPHYSICS Canonical Quantization of Two-Dimensional Gravity S. N. Vergeles Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow oblast, 142432 Russia; e-mail:
[email protected] Received March 23, 1999 Abstract—A canonical quantization of two-dimensional gravity minimally coupled to real scalar and spinor Majorana fields is presented. The physical state space of the theory is completely described and calculations are also made of the average values of the metric tensor relative to states close to the ground state. © 2000 MAIK “Nauka/Interperiodica”. 1. INTRODUCTION quantization) for observables in the highest orders, will The quantum theory of gravity in four-dimensional serve as a criterion for the correctness of the selected space–time encounters fundamental difficulties which quantization route. have not yet been surmounted. These difficulties can be The progress achieved in the construction of a two- arbitrarily divided into conceptual and computational. dimensional quantum theory of gravity is associated The main conceptual problem is that the Hamiltonian is with two ideas. These ideas will be formulated below a linear combination of first-class constraints. This fact after the necessary notation has been introduced. makes the role of time in gravity unclear. The main computational problem is the nonrenormalizability of We shall postulate that space–time is topologically gravity theory. These difficulties are closely inter- equivalent to a two-dimensional cylinder.