Related papers: Effective Spin Foam Models for Four-Dimensional Qu…
We employ the curvature expansion of the quantum effective action for gravity-matter systems to construct graviton-mediated scattering amplitudes for non-minimally coupled scalar fields in a Minkowski background. By design, the formalism…
In this review we discuss the interplay between discretization, constraint implementation, and diffeomorphism symmetry in Loop Quantum Gravity and Spin Foam models. To this end we review the Consistent Discretizations approach, which is an…
We introduce simple generic models of surface dynamics in loop quantum gravity (LQG). A quantum surface is defined as a set of elementary patches of area glued together. We provide it with an extra structure of locality (nearest neighbors),…
In the search for a covariant formulation for Loop Quantum Gravity, spin foams have arised as the corresponding discrete space-time structure and, among the different models, the Barrett-Crane model seems the most promising. Here, we study…
Although spin foams arose as quantizations of the length metric degrees of freedom, the quantum configuration space is rather based on areas as more fundamental variables. This is also highlighted by the semi-classical limit of…
We show that strongly interacting multicomponent gases in one dimension realize an effective spin chain, offering an alternative simple scenario for the study of one-dimensional quantum magnetism in cold gases in the absence of an optical…
In several approaches towards a quantum theory of gravity, such as group field theory and loop quantum gravity, quantum states and histories of the geometric degrees of freedom turn out to be based on discrete spacetime. The most pressing…
I discuss a specific model of space-time foam, inspired by the modern non-perturbative approach to string theory (D-branes). The model views our world as a three brane, intersecting with D-particles that represent stringy quantum gravity…
In this paper, we address the problem of the dynamics in three dimensional loop quantum gravity with zero cosmological constant. We construct a rigorous definition of Rovelli's generalized projection operator from the kinematical Hilbert…
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…
We describe here some new results concerning the Lorentzian Barrett-Crane model, a well-known spin foam formulation of quantum gravity. Generalizing an existing finiteness result, we provide a concise proof of finiteness of the partition…
In loop quantum cosmology, one has to make a choice of SU(2) irreducible representation in which to compute holonomies and regularize the curvature of the connection. The systematic choice made in the literature is to work in the…
Spinfoam models provide a covariant formulation of the dynamics of loop quantum gravity. They are non-perturbatively defined in the group field theory (GFT) framework: the GFT partition function defines the sum of spinfoam transition…
Spinning particle models can be used to describe higher spin fields in first quantization. In this paper we discuss how spinning particles with gauged O(N) supersymmetries on the worldline can be consistently coupled to conformally flat…
Using numerical calculations, we compare three versions of the Barrett-Crane model of 4-dimensional Riemannian quantum gravity. In the version with face and edge amplitudes as described by De Pietri, Freidel, Krasnov, and Rovelli, we show…
A dynamical effective medium theory is presented for quantum spins and higher multipoles such as quadrupole moments. The theory is a generalization of the spherical model approximation for the Ising model, and is accurate up to O(1/z_n)…
We present a general form of the effective spin-chain model for strongly interacting atomic gases with an arbitrary spin in the one-dimensional(1D) traps. In particular, for high-spin systems the atoms can collide in multiple scattering…
Just as for non-abelian gauge theories at strong coupling, discrete lattice methods are a natural tool in the study of non-perturbative quantum gravity. They have to reflect the fact that the geometric degrees of freedom are dynamical, and…
In the path integral formulation of the reduced phase space Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), we propose a new approach to allow the spatial cubic lattice (graph) to change dynamically in the physical time evolution. The equations of motion of…
We review aspects of loop quantum gravity and spin foam models at an introductory level, with special attention to questions frequently asked by non-specialists.