Towards a "pre-canonical" quantization of gravity without the space+time decomposition

Abstract

Quantization of gravity is discussed in the context of field quantization based on an analogue of canonical formalism (the De Donder-Weyl canonical theory) which does not require the space+time decomposition. Using Horava's (1991) De Donder-Weyl formulation of General Relativity we put forward a covariant generalization of the Schrödinger equation for the wave function of space-time and metric variables and a supplementary ``bootstrap condition'' which self-consistently incorporates the classical background space-time geometry as a quantum average and closes the system of equations. Some open questions for further research are outlined.