Canonical quantization and braid invariance of (2+1)-dimensional gravity coupled to point particles

Abstract

We investigate the canonical quantization of gravity coupled to pointlike matter in 2+1 dimensions. Starting from the usual point particle action in the first order formalism, we introduce auxiliary variables which make the action locally Poincaré invariant. A Hamiltonian analysis shows that the gauge group is actually larger than the Poincaré group -- certain additional gauge constraints are present which act on the matter degrees of freedom. These additional constraints are necessary to mimic the diffeomorphism invariance present if the theory is formulated with a spacetime metric. The additional gauge constraints are realized projectively in the quantum theory, with a phase in the composition law for finite gauge transformations. That phase is responsible for the braid invariance of physical observables (holonomies).