Polyhedra in spacetime from null vectors
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
2013-12-12 v2
Abstract
We consider convex spacelike polyhedra oriented in Minkowski space. These are the classical analogues of spinfoam intertwiners. We point out a parametrization of these shapes using null face normals, with no constraints or redundancies. Our construction is dimension-independent. In 3+1d, it provides the spacetime picture behind a well-known property of the loop quantum gravity intertwiner space in spinor form, namely that the closure constraint is always satisfied after some SL(2,C) rotation. As a simple application of our variables, we incorporate them in a 4-simplex action that reproduces the large-spin behavior of the Barrett-Crane vertex amplitude.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1308.1982,
title = {Polyhedra in spacetime from null vectors},
author = {Yasha Neiman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1308.1982},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
12 pages, 1 figure; v2: references fixed and added