Related papers: Classical general relativity as BF-Plebanski theor…
We present an improved formulation of 4-dimensional Lorentzian spinfoam quantum gravity with cosmological constant. The construction of spinfoam amplitudes uses the state-integral model of PSL(2,$\mathbb{C}$) Chern-Simons theory and the…
We set up an Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory in four dimensions, based on the recent formulation of pure gravity with extra dimensions of vanishing metrical length [1]. In absence of torsion, the effective field equations depend only on the…
The recent interest in modified theories of gravity, involving some type of non-minimal coupling to the Ricci scalar, and the calculation of cosmological observables in the Einstein or the Jordan frame, motivate the formulation of these…
We expand the study of generalized brane cosmologies by allowing for an $f(\tilde{\cal R})$ gravity term on the brane, with $\tilde{\cal R}$ the curvature scalar derived from the induced metric. We also include arbitrary matter components…
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…
We present a simplicial model for gravity written in terms of a discretized Lorentz connection and a discretized tetrad field. The continuum limit of its action is Holst's action for general relativity. With the intention of using it to…
We review recent efforts to construct gravitational theories on discrete space-times, usually referred to as the ``consistent discretization'' approach. The resulting theories are free of constraints at the canonical level and therefore…
A direct relation between two types of topological field theories, Chern-Simons theory and BF theory, is presented by using ``Generalized Differential Calculus'', which extends an ordinary p-form to an ordered pair of p and (p+1)-form. We…
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…
We present a new $BF$-type action for complex general relativity with or without a cosmological constant resembling Plebanski's action, which depends on an SO(3,$\mathbb{C}$) connection, a set of 2-forms, a symmetric matrix, and a 4-form.…
Recently Gambini and Pullin proposed a new consistent discrete approach to quantum gravity and applied it to cosmological models. One remarkable result of this approach is that the cosmological singularity can be avoided in a general…
A classical foundation for an idea of reality condition in the context of spin foams (Barrett-Crane models) is developed. I extract classical real general relativity (all signatures) from complex general relativity by imposing the area…
We investigate the possibility to recover a four-dimensional (4D) general theory of relativity, as embedded in a 5D spacetime where gravity is governed by a five-dimensional (5D) Brans-Dicke (BD) theory of gravity. Employing the…
We review the current status and prospects for the conformal invariant fourth order theory of gravity which has recently been advanced by Mannheim and Kazanas as a candidate alternative to the standard second order Einstein theory. We…
In Loop Quantum Gravity, tremendous progress has been made using the Ashtekar-Barbero variables. These variables, defined in a gauge-fixing of the theory, correspond to a parametrization of the solutions of the so-called simplicity…
In the last 20 years, loop quantum gravity, a background independent approach to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, has been widely investigated. The aim of loop quantum gravity is to construct a mathematically rigorous,…
Based on a family of indefinite unitary representations of the diffeomorphism group of an oriented smooth $4$-manifold, a manifestly covariant $4$ dimensional and non-perturbative algebraic quantum field theory formulation of gravity is…
A argument is described for how deformed or doubly special relativity may arise in the semiclassical limit of a quantum theory of gravity. We consider a generic quantum theory of gravity coupled to matter, from which we use only the…
We consider the cosmological symmetry reduction of the Plebanski action as a toy-model to explore, in this simple framework, some issues related to loop quantum gravity and spin-foam models. We make the classical analysis of the model and…
We investigate the quantum geometry of $2d$ surface $S$ bounding the Cauchy slices of 4d gravitational system. We investigate in detail and for the first time the symplectic current that naturally arises boundary term in the first order…