Related papers: EPRL/FK Asymptotics and the Flatness Problem

Suppose the usual description of spacetime as a 4-dimensional manifold with a Lorentzian metric breaks down at Planck energies. Can we still construct sensible theoretical models of the universe? Are they testable? Do they lead to a…

Any approach to pure quantum gravity must eventually face the question of coupling quantum matter to the theory. In the past, several ways of coupling matter to spin foam quantum gravity have been proposed, but the dynamics of the coupled…

We investigate a formulation of continuum 4d gravity in terms of a constrained topological (BF) theory, in the spirit of the Plebanski formulation, but involving only linear constraints, of the type used recently in the spin foam approach…

In this paper we tackle the issue of causality in quantum gravity, in the context of 3d spin foam models. We identify the correct procedure for implementing the causality/orientation dependence restriction that reduces the path integral for…

In this article we review the foundations and the present status of loop quantum gravity. It is short and relatively non-technical, the emphasis is on the ideas, and the flavor of the techniques. In particular, we describe the kinematical…

Recently, two new spin-foam models have appeared in the literature, both motivated by a desire to modify the Barrett-Crane model in such a way that the imposition of certain second class constraints, called cross-simplicity constraints, are…

A lattice quantum gravity model in 4 dimensional Riemannian spacetime is constructed based on the SU(2) Ashtekar formulation of general relativity. This model can be understood as one of the family of models sometimes called ``spin foam…

We show that the Euclidean and Lorentzian EPRL vertex amplitudes of covariant Loop Quantum Gravity are related through a ``Wick rotation'' of the real Immirzi parameter to purely imaginary values. Our result follows from the simultaneous…

In this paper explore the relation between covariant and canonical approaches to quantum gravity and $BF$ theory. We will focus on the dynamical triangulation and spin-foam models, which have in common that they can be defined in terms of…

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…

We relate a large class of classical spin models, including the inhomogeneous Ising, Potts, and clock models of q-state spins on arbitrary graphs, to problems in quantum physics. More precisely, we show how to express partition functions as…

In this work, we define quasicrystalline spin networks as a subspace within the standard Hilbert space of loop quantum gravity, effectively constraining the states to coherent states that align with quasicrystal geometry structures. We…

Spacetime foam is analyzed within the simplistic model of a set of scalar fields on a flat background. We suggest the formula for the path integral which allows to account for the all possible topologies of spacetime. We show that the…

The Christensen-Egan algorithm is extended and generalized to efficiently evaluate new spin foam vertex amplitudes proposed by Engle, Pereira & Rovelli and Freidel & Krasnov, with or without (factored) boundary states. A concrete pragmatic…

EPR-type measurements on spatially separated entangled spin qubits allow one, in principle, to detect curvature. Also the entanglement of the vacuum state is affected by curvature. Here, we ask if the curvature of spacetime can be expressed…

The construction of a theory of quantum gravity is an outstanding problem that can benefit from better understanding the laws of nature that are expected to hold in regimes currently inaccessible to experiment. Such fundamental laws can be…

We study the state-sum models of quantum gravity based on a representation 2-category of the Poincare 2-group. We call them spin-cube models, since they are categorical generalizations of spin-foam models. A spin-cube state sum can be…

In this paper, we apply a recently proposed numerical algorithm for finding stationary phase points in spin foam amplitudes. We study a spin foam amplitude with three vertices and a bulk face in 4d BF theory. We fix the boundary coherent…

We revise imposition of various constraints in spin foam models of 4-dimensional general relativity. We argue that the usual simplicity constraint must be supplemented by a constraint on holonomies and together they must be inserted…

We consider the EPRL spin foam amplitude for arbitrary embedded two-complexes. Choosing a definition of the face- and edge amplitudes which lead to spin foam amplitudes invariant under trivial subdivisions, we investigate invariance…