Related papers: Spin Foam Perturbation Theory for Three-Dimensiona…
In this paper we tackle the issue of causality in quantum gravity, in the context of 3d spin foam models. We identify the correct procedure for implementing the causality/orientation dependence restriction that reduces the path integral for…
We consider theories of three dimensional quantum gravity in Anti-de Sitter space which possess massless higher-spin gauge symmetry. The perturbative spectrum of the theory includes higher spin excitations which can be organized into vacuum…
We derive the the Barrett-Crane spin foam model for Euclidean 4 dimensional quantum gravity from a discretized BF theory, imposing the constraints that reduce it to gravity at the quantum level. We obtain in this way a precise prescription…
Using numerical calculations, we compare three versions of the Barrett-Crane model of 4-dimensional Riemannian quantum gravity. In the version with face and edge amplitudes as described by De Pietri, Freidel, Krasnov, and Rovelli, we show…
This paper is twofold. First of all a complete unified picture of $n$-dimensional quantum gravity is proposed in the following sense: In spin foam models of quantum gravity the evaluation of spin networks play a very important role. These…
In this article we review the present status of the spin foam formulation of non-perturbative (background independent) quantum gravity. The article is divided in two parts. In the first part we present a general introduction to the main…
The goal of spin foam models is to provide a viable path integral formulation of quantum gravity. Because of background independence, their underlying framework has certain novel features that are not shared by path integral formulations of…
We recast the action principle of four dimensional General Relativity so that it becomes amenable for perturbation theory which doesn't break general covariance. The coupling constant becomes dimensionless (G_{Newton} \Lambda) and extremely…
It has been shown in [1] that a class of restricted spin foam models can feature a reduced spectral dimension of space-time. However, it is still an open question how curvature affects the flow of the spectral dimension. To answer this…
Spin foam models are an approach to quantum gravity based on the concept of sum over states, which aims to describe quantum spacetime dynamics in a way that its parent framework, loop quantum gravity, has not as of yet succeeded. Since…
The squeezed limit of the three-point function of cosmological perturbations is a powerful discriminant of different models of the early Universe. We present a conceptually simple and complete framework to relate any primordial bispectrum…
In this paper, we will make an attempt to clarify the relation between three-dimensional euclidean loop quantum gravity with vanishing cosmological constant and quantum field theory in the continuum. We will argue, in particular, that in…
We consider quantum transition amplitudes, partition functions and observables for 3D spin foam models within $SU(2)$ quantum group deformation symmetry, where the deformation parameter is a complex fifth root of unity. By considering…
These notes are a didactic overview of the non perturbative and background independent approach to a quantum theory of gravity known as loop quantum gravity. The definition of real connection variables for general relativity, used as a…
Spin Foam Models (SFMs) are covariant formulations of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) in 4 dimensions. This work studies the perturbations of SFMs on a flat background. It demonstrates for the first time that smooth curved spacetime geometries…
In this article we lay foundations for a formal relationship of spin foam models of gravity and BF theory to their continuum canonical formulations. First the derivation of the spin foam model of the BF theory from the discrete BF theory…
We present a rigorous regularization of Rovellis's generalized projection operator in canonical 2+1 gravity. This work establishes a clear-cut connection between loop quantum gravity and the spin foam approach in this simplified setting.…
The model of Lorentzian three-dimensional dynamical triangulations provides a non-perturbative definition of three-dimensional quantum gravity. The theory has two phases: a weak-coupling phase with quantum fluctuations around a…
A covariant spin-foam formulation of quantum gravity has been recently developed, characterized by a kinematics which appears to match well the one of canonical loop quantum gravity. In this paper we reconsider the implementation of the…
This review is devoted to the analysis of the mutual consistency of the spin foam and canonical loop quantizations in three and four spacetime dimensions. In the three-dimensional context, where the two approaches are in good agreement, we…