Constrained Mechanics and Noiseless Subsystems

Abstract

Many theories are formulated as constrained systems. We provide a mechanism that explains the origin of physical states of a constrained system by a process of selection of noiseless subsystems when the system is coupled to an external environment. Effectively, physical states that solve all the constraints are selected by a passive error correction scheme which has been developed in the context of quantum information processing. We apply this mechanism to several constrained theories including the relativistic particle, electromagnetism, and quantum gravity, and discuss some interesting (and speculative) implications on the problem of time and the status of symmetries in nature.