Related papers: Classical general relativity as BF-Plebanski theor…
We investigate a formulation of continuum 4d gravity in terms of a constrained topological (BF) theory, in the spirit of the Plebanski formulation, but involving only linear constraints, of the type used recently in the spin foam approach…
We revise the classical continuum formulation behind the Spin Foam approach to the quantization of gravity. Based on the recent applications of the current EPRL-FK model beyond triangulations, we identify the tension with the implementation…
Spin foam models of quantum gravity are based on Plebanski's formulation of general relativity as a constrained BF theory. We give an alternative formulation of gravity as BF theory plus a certain potential term for the B-field. When the…
Starting from Plebanski formulation of gravity as a constrained BF theory we propose a new spin foam model for 4d Riemannian quantum gravity that generalises the well-known Barrett-Crane model and resolves the inherent to it ultra-locality…
In 4 dimensions, general relativity can be formulated as a constrained $BF$ theory; we show that the same is true in 2 dimensions. We describe a spinfoam quantization of this constrained BF-formulation of 2d riemannian general relativity,…
We introduce a three-dimensional Plebanski action for the gauge group SO(4). In this model, the $B$ field satisfies quadratic simplicity constraints similar to that of the four-dimensional Plebanski theory, but with the difference that the…
It is well known that, in the first-order formalism, pure three-dimensional gravity is just the BF theory. Similarly, four-dimensional general relativity can be formulated as BF theory with an additional constraint term added to the…
We study a generalized action for gravity as a constrained BF theory, and its relationship with the Plebanski action. We analyse the discretization of the constraints and the spin foam quantization of the theory, showing that it leads…
Besides the String Theory context, the quantum General Relativity can be studied by the use of constrained topological field theories. In the celebrated Plebanski formalism, the constraints connecting topological field theories and gravity…
This article reviews the present status of the spin foam approach to the quantization of gravity. Special attention is payed to the pedagogical presentation of the recently introduced new models for four dimensional quantum gravity. The…
$BF$ gravity comprises all the formulations of gravity that are based on deformations of $BF$ theory. Such deformations consist of either constraints or potential terms added to the topological $BF$ action that turn some of the gauge…
We show that the degenerate sector of Spin(4) Plebanski formulation of four-dimensional gravity is exactly solvable and describes covariantly embedded SU(2) BF theory. This fact ensures that its spin foam quantization is given by the SU(2)…
In Plebanski's self-dual formulation general relativity becomes SO(3) BF theory supplemented with the so-called simplicity (or metricity) constraints for the B-field. The main dynamical equation of the theory states that the curvature of…
Quadratic gravity in two dimensions can be formulated as a Background Field (BF) theory plus an interaction term which is polynomial in both, the gauge and Background fields. This formulation is similar to the one given by Freidel and…
We provide the Barrett-Crane spin foam model for quantum gravity with a discrete action principle, consisting in the usual BF term with discretized simplicity constraints which in the continuum turn topological BF theory into gravity. The…
In the first-order formulation, general relativity could be formally viewed as the topological $BF$ theory with a specific constraint, the Plebanski constraint. $BF$ theory is expected to be the classical limit of the Crane-Yetter~(CY)…
We study embedding gravity, a modified theory of gravity, in which our space-time is assumed to be a four-dimensional surface in flat ten-dimensional space. Based on a simple geometric idea, this theory can be reformulated as General…
Modern spin-foam models of four dimensional gravity are based on a discrete version of the $Spin(4)$ Plebanski formulation. Beyond what is already in the literature, we clarify the meaning of different Plebanski sectors in this classical…
We derive the pure spin connection and constraint-free BF formulations of real four-dimensional Lorentzian vacuum General Relativity. In contrast to the existing complex formulations, an important advantage is that they do not require the…
Recently, a topological field theory of membrane-matter coupled to BF theory in arbitrary spacetime dimensions was proposed [1]. In this paper, we discuss various aspects of the four-dimensional theory. Firstly, we study classical solutions…