Related papers: State Sums and Geometry
In this paper we present classes of state sum models based on the recoupling theory of angular momenta of SU(2) (and of its q-counterpart $U_q(sl(2))$, q a root of unity). Such classes are arranged in hierarchies depending on the dimension…
Just as 3d state sum models, including 3d quantum gravity, can be built using categories of group representations, "2-categories of 2-group representations" may provide interesting state sum models for 4d quantum topology, if not quantum…
We present the construction of a new state sum model for $4d$ Lorentzian quantum gravity based on the description of quantum simplicial geometry in terms of edge vectors. Quantum states and amplitudes for simplicial geometry are built from…
We study the invariants of spin networks embedded in a three-dimensional manifold which are based on the path integral for SU(2) BF-Theory. These invariants appear naturally in Loop Quantum Gravity, and have been defined as spin-foam state…
It has long been argued that higher categories provide the proper algebraic structure underlying state sum invariants of 4-manifolds. This idea has been refined recently, by proposing to use 2-groups and their representations as specific…
This thesis is devoted to the study of 3-dimensional quantum gravity as a spin foam model and group field theory. In the first part of this thesis, we review some general physical and mathematical aspects of 3-dimensional gravity, focusing…
We present an explicit expression for the topological invariants associated to $SU(2)$ monopoles in the fundamental representation on spin four-manifolds. The computation of these invariants is based on the analysis of their corresponding…
We describe how a spin-foam state sum model can be reformulated as a quantum field theory of spin networks, such that the Feynman diagrams of that field theory are the spin-foam amplitudes. In the case of open spin networks, we obtain a new…
We provide a combinatorial model for spin surfaces. Given a triangulation of an oriented surface, a spin structure is encoded by assigning to each triangle a preferred edge, and to each edge an orientation and a sign, subject to certain…
We provide a simple proof of the topological invariance of the Turaev-Viro model (corresponding to simplicial 3d pure Euclidean gravity with cosmological constant) by means of a novel diagrammatic formulation of the state sum models for…
Any triple $(W,L,\rho)$, where $W$ is a compact closed oriented 3-manifold, $L$ is a link in $W$ and $\rho$ is a flat principal $B$-bundle over $W$ ($B$ is the Borel subgroup of upper triangular matrices of $SL(2,\mc)$), can be encoded by…
We construct the spin foam model for N=2 supergravity in three dimensions. Classically, it is a BF theory with gauge algebra osp(2|2). This algebra has representations which are not completely reducible. This complicates the procedure when…
In this paper we define a class of state-sum invariants of compact closed oriented piece-wise linear 4-manifolds using finite groups. The definition of these state-sums follows from the general abstract construction of 4-manifold invariants…
A family of invariants of smooth, oriented four-dimensional manifolds is defined via handle decompositions and the Kirby calculus of framed link diagrams. The invariants are parameterised by a pivotal functor from a spherical fusion…
On basis of generalized 6j-symbols we give a formulation of topological quantum field theories for 3-manifolds including observables in the form of coloured graphs. It is shown that the 6j-symbols associated with deformations of the…
Using a two component $SL(2) $ isospinor formalism, we study the link between conifold $T^{\ast}\mathbb{S}^{3}$ and q-deformed non commutative holomorphic geometry in complex four dimensions. Then, thinking about conifold as a projective…
In this work we give an explicit isomorphism between the usual spin network basis and the direct quantization of the reduced phase space of tetrahedra. The main outcome is a formula that describes the space of SU(2) invariant states by an…
We define a family of quantum invariants of closed oriented $3$-manifolds using spherical multi-fusion categories. The state sum nature of this invariant leads directly to $(2+1)$-dimensional topological quantum field theories…
Loop quantum gravity has provided us with a canonical framework especially devised for background independent and diffeomorphism invariant gauge field theories. In this quantization the fundamental excitations are called spin network…
We define a Turaev-Viro-Barrett-Westbury state sum model of triangulated 3-manifolds with surface, line and point defects. Surface defects are oriented embedded 2d PL submanifolds and are labeled with bimodule categories over spherical…