Related papers: Spin-cube Models of Quantum Gravity
We show that the EPRL/FK spin foam model of quantum gravity has an absolutely convergent partition function if the vertex amplitude is divided by an appropriate power $p$ of the product of dimensions of the vertex spins. This power is…
We consider a discrete model of euclidean quantum gravity in four dimensions based on a summation over random simplicial manifolds. The action used is the Einstein-Hilbert action plus an $R^2$-term. The phase diagram as a function of the…
In this mostly expository article, elements of higher category theory essential to the construction of a class of four dimensional quantum geometric models are reviewed. These models improve current state sum models for Quantum Gravity,…
Spinfoam theories are hoped to provide the dynamics of non-perturbative loop quantum gravity. But a number of their features remain elusive. The best studied one -the euclidean Barrett-Crane model- does not have the boundary state space…
We reformulate the full quantum dynamics of spin systems using a phase space representation based on SU(2) coherent states which generates an exact mapping of the dynamics of any spin system onto a set of stochastic differential equations.…
Relativistic spin networks are defined by considering the spin covering of the group SO(4), SU(2) times SU(2). Relativistic quantum spins are related to the geometry of the 2-dimensional faces of a 4-simplex. This extends the idea of…
We show that the Husain-Kuchar model can be described in the framework of BF theories. This is a first step towards its quantization by standard perturbative QFT techniques or the spin-foam formalism introduced in the space-time description…
We analyse the classical and quantum geometry of the Barrett-Crane spin foam model for four dimensional quantum gravity, explaining why it has to be considering as a covariant realization of the projector operator onto physical quantum…
Spin-foam models are hoped to provide a dynamics for loop quantum gravity. These start from the Plebanski formulation of gravity, in which gravity is obtained from a topological field theory, BF theory, through constraints, which, however,…
Current theories of particle physics, including the standard model, are dominated by the paradigm that nature is basically translation invariant. Deviations from translation invariance are described by the action of forces. General…
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,…
Several two-dimensional quantum field theory models have more than one vacuum state. Familiar examples are the Sine-Gordon and the $\phi^4_2$-model. It is known that these models possess states, called kink states, which interpolate…
Euclidean quantum-gravity path-integrals are investigated within Regge calculus by computer simulations. The domain of integration is restricted by introducing a lower limit for the fatness of each simplex. We use the standard hypercubic…
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 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…
The spin network simulator model represents a bridge between (generalised) circuit schemes for standard quantum computation and approaches based on notions from Topological Quantum Field Theories (TQFTs). The key tool is provided by the…
Several two-dimensional quantum field theory models have more than one vacuum state. Familiar examples are the Sine-Gordon and the $\phi^4_2$-model. It is known that in these models there are also states, called kink states, which…
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 introduce a new basis on the state space of non-perturbative quantum gravity. The states of this basis are linearly independent, are well defined in both the loop representation and the connection representation, and are labeled by a…
In the presence of spacetime boundaries, diffeomorphisms in gravitational theories can become physical and acquire non-vanishing Noether charges. These charges obey an algebra which, within the extended phase-space formalism, faithfully…