Related papers: Towards new background independent representations…
Quantum General Relativity (QGR), sometimes called Loop Quantum Gravity, has matured over the past fifteen years to a mathematically rigorous candidate quantum field theory of the gravitational field. The features that distinguish it from…
Loop quantum gravity, a non-perturbative and manifestly background free, quantum theory of gravity implies that at the kinematical level the spatial geometry is discrete in a specific sense. The spirit of background independence also…
Loop Quantum Gravity is now a well established approach to quantum gravity. One of the main challenges still faced by the theory is constructing a consistent dynamics which would lead back to the standard dynamics of the gravitational field…
The questions I have been asked during the 5th International School on Field Theory and Gravitation, have compelled me to give an account of the premises that I consider important for a beginner's approach to Loop Quantum Gravity. After a…
We discuss the meaning of background independence in quantum theories of gravity where geometry and gravity are emergent and illustrate the possibilities using the framework of quantum causal histories.
In recent years, Loop Quantum Gravity has emerged as a solid candidate for a nonperturbative quantum theory of General Relativity. It is a background independent theory based on a description of the gravitational field in terms of…
The application of quantum theory to gravity is beset with many technical and conceptual problems. After a short tour d'horizon of recent attempts to master those problems by the introduction of new approaches, we show that the aim, a…
The problem of background independent quantum gravity is the problem of defining a quantum field theory of matter and gravity in the absence of an underlying background geometry. Loop quantum gravity (LQG) is a promising proposal for…
When quantum fields are studied on manifolds with boundary, the corresponding one-loop quantum theory for bosonic gauge fields with linear covariant gauges needs the assignment of suitable boundary conditions for elliptic differential…
Since the gauge group underlying 2+1-dimensional general relativity is non-compact, certain difficulties arise in the passage from the connection to the loop representations. It is shown that these problems can be handled by appropriately…
The goal of this article is to present an introduction to loop quantum gravity -a background independent, non-perturbative approach to the problem of unification of general relativity and quantum physics, based on a quantum theory of…
We argue that the demand of background independence in a quantum theory of gravity calls for an extension of standard geometric quantum mechanics. We discuss a possible kinematical and dynamical generalization of the latter by way of a…
As a canonical and generally covariant gauge theory, loop quantum gravity requires special techniques to derive effective actions or equations. If the proper constructions are taken into account, the theory, in spite of considerable…
The recent formulation of locally covariant quantum field theory may open the way towards a background independent perturbative formulation of Quantum Gravity.
The aim of this paper is to explain carefully the arguments behind the assertion that the correct quantum theory of gravity must be background independent. We begin by recounting how the debate over whether quantum gravity must be…
I describe a possible perspective on the current state of loop quantum gravity, at the light of the developments of the last years. I point out that a theory is now available, having a well-defined background-independent kinematics and a…
Aspects of the full theory of loop quantum gravity can be studied in a simpler context by reducing to symmetric models like cosmological ones. This leads to several applications where loop effects play a significant role when one is…
A manifestly Lorentz-covariant formulation of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) is given in terms of finite-dimensional representations of the Lorentz group. The formulation accounts for discrete symmetries, such as parity and time-reversal, and…
A new representation of Quantum Gravity is developed. This formulation is based on an extension of the group of loops. The enlarged group, that we call the Extended Loop Group, behaves locally as an infinite dimensional Lie group. Quantum…
We deduce, in a general background gauge, the counter-term Lagrangian for pure quantum gravity to one-loop order. As an application, we evaluate the leading quantum correction to the classical gravitational potential, generated by the…