Related papers: Quantum gravity at the corner
These notes are a didactic overview of the non perturbative and background independent approach to a quantum theory of gravity known as loop quantum gravity. The definition of real connection variables for general relativity, used as a…
The geometro-stochastic method of quantization provides a framework for quantum general relativity, in which the principal frame bundles of local Lorentz frames that underlie the fibre-theoretical approach to classical general relativity…
Quantum Graphity is an approach to quantum gravity based on a background independent formulation of condensed matter systems on graphs. We summarize recent results obtained on the notion of emergent geometry from the point of view of a…
General relativity describes the gravitational field geometrically and in a self-interacting way because it couples to all forms of energy, including its own. Both features make finding a quantum theory difficult, yet it is important in the…
We show that the quantization of spherically symmetric pure gravity can be carried out completely in the framework of Ashtekar's self-dual representation. Consistent operator orderings can be given for the constraint functionals yielding…
An important task faced by all approaches of quantum gravity is to incorporate superpositions and quantify quantum uncertainties of spacetime causal relations. We address this task in 2D. By identifying a global $Z_2$ symmetry of 1+1D…
In this thesis we investigate various fundamental aspects of asymptotically safe quantum gravity, in particular the compatibility of Asymptotic Safety with the requirements for background independence and unitarity. The first part contains…
In the investigation and resolution of the cosmological constant problem the inclusion of the dynamics of quantum gravity can be a crucial step. In this work we suggest that the quantum constraints in a canonical theory of gravity can…
In general relativity (GR), spacetime geometry is no longer just a background arena but a physical and dynamical entity with its own degrees of freedom. We present an overview of approaches to quantum gravity in which this central feature…
The main obstacle in attempts to construct a consistent quantum gravity is the absence of independent flat time. This can in principle be cured by going out to higher dimensions. The modern paradigm assumes that the fundamental theory of…
We review combinatorial quantum gravity, an approach which combines Einstein's idea of dynamical geometry with Wheeler's "it from bit" hypothesis in a model of dynamical graphs governed by the coarse Ollivier-Ricci curvature. This drives a…
Four-dimensional (4D) simplicial quantum gravity coupled to both scalar fields (N_X) and gauge fields (N_A) has been studied using Monte-Carlo simulations. The matter dependence of the string susceptibility exponent gamma^{(4)} is…
We show that the non-Abelian nature of geometric fluxes---the corner-stone in the definition of quantum geometry in the framework of loop quantum gravity (LQG)---follows directly form the continuum canonical commutations relations of…
Loop Quantum Gravity provides a natural truncation of the infinite degrees of freedom of gravity, obtained by studying the theory on a given finite graph. We review this procedure and we present the construction of the canonical theory on a…
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 show that the symplectic current obtained from the boundary term, which arises in the first variation of a local diffeomorphism invariant action, is covariantly conserved for any gravity theory described by that action. Therefore, a…
We introduce a quantum volume operator $K$ in three--dimensional Quantum Gravity by taking into account a symmetrical coupling scheme of three SU(2) angular momenta. The spectrum of $K$ is discrete and defines a complete set of eigenvectors…
Quantum gravity that describes the world beyond the Planck scale should be formulated in a background-metric independent manner. Such a background-free nature can be represented as a gauge equivalency under conformal transformations, called…
The problem of finding the quantum theory of the gravitational field, and thus understanding what is quantum spacetime, is still open. One of the most active of the current approaches is loop quantum gravity. Loop quantum gravity is a…
The gauge approach to gravity based on the local Lorentz group with a general independent affine connection A_{\mu cd} is developed. We consider SO(1,3) gauge theory with a Lagrangian quadratic in curvature as a simple model of quantum…