Related papers: The Spin Foam Approach to Quantum Gravity

Spin foams provide path integrals for quantum gravity, which employ discretizations as regulator. To obtain regulator independent predictions, we must remove these fiducial structures in a suitable refinement limit. In this chapter we…

Spin foam vertex amplitudes are the key ingredient of spin foam models for quantum gravity. These fall into the realm of discretized path integral, and can be seen as generalized lattice gauge theories. They can be seen as an attempt at a…

We discuss a new approach to the problem of quantum gravity in which the quantum mechanical structures that are traditionally fixed, such as the Fubini-Study metric in the Hilbert space of states, become dynamical and so implement the idea…

Spin foam models are the path integral counterparts to loop quantized canonical theories. In the last few years several spin foam models of gravity have been proposed, most of which live on finite simplicial lattice spacetime. The lattice…

This article presents an "in-a-nutshell" yet self-contained introductory review on loop quantum gravity (LQG) -- a background-independent, nonperturbative approach to a consistent quantum theory of gravity. Instead of rigorous and…

We provide a rather extended introduction to the group field theory approach to quantum gravity, and the main ideas behind it. We present in some detail the GFT quantization of 3d Riemannian gravity, and discuss briefly the current status…

We construct a class of spin foam models describing matter coupled to gravity, such that the gravitational sector is described by the unitary irreducible representations of the appropriate symmetry group, while the matter sector is…

In a recent work, a dual formulation of group field theories as non-commutative quantum field theories has been proposed, providing an exact duality between spin foam models and non-commutative simplicial path integrals for constrained BF…

The simplicial framework of Engle-Pereira-Rovelli-Livine spin-foam models is generalized to match the diffeomorphism invariant framework of loop quantum gravity. The simplicial spin-foams are generalized to arbitrary linear 2-cell…

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…

Simplicial quantum gravity has been proposed as a regularization for four dimensional quantum gravity. The partition function is constructed by performing a weighted sum over all triangulations of the 4-sphere. The model is well-defined…

A key point in the spin foam approach to quantum gravity is the implementation of simplicity constraints in the partition functions of the models. Here, we discuss the imposition of these constraints in a phase space setting corresponding…

The outline of a recent approach to quantum gravity is presented. Novel ingredients include: (1) Affine kinematical variables; (2) Affine coherent states; (3) Projection operator approach toward quantum constraints; (4) Continuous-time…

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…

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 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…

In three spacetime dimensions, general relativity drastically simplifies, becoming a ``topological'' theory with no propagating local degrees of freedom. Nevertheless, many of the difficult conceptual problems of quantizing gravity are…

We review recent work in the lattice approach to random surfaces and quantum gravity. Our task is made somewhat easier by some very interesting results, particularly in four dimensions, that have appeared recently and which are reported…

We propose an explicit spin-foam amplitude for Lorentzian gravity in three dimensions, allowing for both space- and time-like boundaries. The model is based on two main requirements: that it should be structurally similar to its well-known…

A Kaluza-Klein like approach for a 4d spin foam model is considered. By applying this approach to a model based on group field theory in 4d (TOCY model), and using the Peter-Weyl expansion of the gravitational field, reconstruction of new…