A general theory of quantum relativity

The geometric form of standard quantum mechanics is compatible with the two postulates: (1) the laws of physics are invariant under the choice of experimental setup and (2) every quantum observation or event is intrinsically statistical. These postulates remain compatible within a background independent extension of quantum theory with a local intrinsic time implying the relativity of the concept of a quantum event. In this extension the space of quantum events becomes dynamical and only individual quantum events make sense observationally. At the core of such a general theory of quantum relativity is the three-way interplay between the symplectic form, the dynamical metric and non-integrable almost complex structure of the space of quantum events. Such a formulation provides a missing conceptual ingredient in the search for a background independent quantum theory of gravity and matter. The crucial new technical element in our scheme derives from a set of recent mathematical results on certain infinite-dimensional almost Kahler manifolds which replace the complex projective spaces of standard quantum mechanics. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.