Related papers: Spin foam models with finite groups

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…

In this letter we outline some reasons for considering a quantum field theory symmetric under quantum groups and we sketch some results obtained with collaborators in the k-Poincare framework. We deal with this latter as a toy model towards…

We link the notion causality with the orientation of the 2-complex on which spin foam models are based. We show that all current spin foam models are orientation-independent, pointing out the mathematical structure behind this independence.…

We give a standard introduction to loop quantum gravity, from the ADM variables to spin network states. We include a discussion on quantum geometry on a fixed graph and its relation to a discrete approximation of general relativity.

A number of recent proposals for a quantum theory of gravity are based on the idea that spacetime geometry and gravity are derivative concepts and only apply at an approximate level. There are two fundamental challenges to any such…

We present a new group field theory describing 3d Riemannian quantum gravity coupled to matter fields for any choice of spin and mass. The perturbative expansion of the partition function produces fat graphs colored with SU(2) algebraic…

We describe random loop models and their relations to a family of quantum spin systems on finite graphs. The family includes spin 1/2 Heisenberg models with possibly anisotropic spin interactions and certain spin 1 models with…

Making the Lorentzian path integral for quantum gravity well-defined and computable has been a long standing challenge. In this work we adopt the recently proposed effective spin foam models to the Lorentzian case. This defines a path…

Quantum gravity, as a fundamental theory of space-time, is expected to reveal how the universe may have started, perhaps during or before an inflationary epoch. It may then leave a potentially observable (but probably minuscule) trace in…

We investigate up to which extend the kinematic setting of loop quantum gravity can be fit into a diffeomorphism invariant setting of algebraic QFT generalizing the Haag-Kastler setting of Wightman type QFT. The net of local (Weyl-)algebras…

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…

Common features of known quantum gravity theories may hint at the general nature of quantum gravity. The absence of continuous global symmetries is one such feature. This inspired the Weak Gravity Conjecture, which bounds masses of charged…

Among the available quantum gravity proposals, string theory, loop quantum gravity, non-commutative geometry, group field theory, causal sets, asymptotic safety, causal dynamical triangulation, emergent gravity are among the best motivated…

Group field theories whose Feynman diagrams describe 3d gravity with a varying configuration of Wilson loop observables and 3d gravity with volume observables at each vertex are defined. The volume observables are created by the usual spin…

Using the Cartan formulation of General Relativity, we construct a well defined lattice-regularized theory capable to describe large non-perturbative quantum fluctuations of the frame field (or the metric) and of the spin connection. To…

Group field theories are quantum field theories built on groups. They can be seen as a tool to generate topological state-sums or quantum gravity models. For four dimensional manifolds, different arguments have pointed towards 2-groups…

We give a brief review of the problem of quantum gravity. After the discussion of the nonrenormalizability of general relativity, we briefly mention the main research directions which aim to resolve this problem. Our attention then focuses…

We construct a generalization of pure lattice gauge theory (LGT) where the role of the gauge group is played by a tensor category. The type of tensor category admissible (spherical, ribbon, symmetric) depends on the dimension of the…

In quantum gravity, we envision renormalization as the key tool for bridging the gap between microscopic models and observable scales. For spin foam quantum gravity, which is defined on a discretisation akin to lattice gauge theories, the…

We expect quantum field theories for matter to acquire intricate corrections due to their coupling to quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field. This can be precisely worked out in 3d quantum gravity: after integrating out quantum…