Related papers: A Nonperturbative Toolkit for Quantum Gravity
We define a (semi-classical) path integral for gravity with Neumann boundary conditions in $D$ dimensions, and show how to relate this new partition function to the usual picture of Euclidean quantum gravity. We also write down the action…
In Hawking's Euclidean path integral approach to quantum gravity, the partition function is computed by summing contributions from all possible topologies. The behavior such a sum can be estimated in three spacetime dimensions in the limit…
A variety of quantum gravity models (including spin foams) can be described using a path integral formulation. A path integral has a well-known statistical mechanical interpretation in connection with a canonical ensemble. In this sense, a…
This thesis explores the thermodynamics of the cosmological horizon, aiming to make progress towards a better understanding of the microscopic nature of its entropy. We utilise the constrained nature of low-dimensional gravity to do so and…
A new method for nonperturbative investigations of quantum gravity is presented in which the simplicial path integral is approximated by the partition function of a spin system. This facilitates analytical and numerical computations…
The Euclidean path integral approach to quantum gravity is conventionally formulated in terms of the Einstein-Hilbert-York-Gibbons-Hawking action, which requires suitable subtractions to produce the correct black hole partition function.…
While there does not at this time exist a complete canonical theory of full 3+1 quantum gravity, there does appear to be a satisfactory canonical quantization of minisuperspace models. The method requires no `choice of time variable' and…
Spacetimes with horizons show a resemblance to thermodynamic systems and it is possible to associate the notions of temperature and entropy with them. Several aspects of this connection are reviewed in a manner appropriate for broad…
A geometric approach to some quantum statistical systems (including the harmonic oscillator) is presented. We regard the (N+1)-dimensional Euclidean {\it coordinate} system (X$^i$,$\tau$) as the quantum statistical system of N quantum…
A non-perturbative and background-independent quantum formulation of quadratic gravity is provided. A canonical quantization procedure introduced in previous works, named after Dirac and Pauli, is here applied to quadratic gravity to…
We construct a model of 3D quantum gravity based on abelian topological quantum field theory (TQFT), by defining the gravitational path-integral as a sum over all 3D topologies with genus-$g$ boundary $\Sigma_g$. The path-integral of an…
We present a path integral formalism for quantising gravity in the form of the spectral action. Our basic principle is to sum over all Dirac operators. The approach is demonstrated on two simple finite noncommutative geometries: the…
A key problem in the attempt to quantize the gravitational field is the choice of boundary conditions. These are mixed, in that spatial and normal components of metric perturbations obey different sets of boundary conditions. In the…
We consider pure three-dimensional quantum gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The sum of known contributions to the partition function from classical geometries can be computed exactly, including quantum corrections. However,…
In this paper, I emphasize those features of the extended phase space approach to quantization of gravity that distinguish it among other approaches. First of all, it is the conjecture about non-trivial topology of the Universe which was…
The two surprising features of gravity are (a) the principle of equivalence and (b) the connection between gravity and thermodynamics. Using principle of equivalence and special relativity in the {\it local inertial frame}, one could obtain…
So far, none of attempts to quantize gravity has led to a satisfactory model that not only describe gravity in the realm of a quantum world, but also its relation to elementary particles and other fundamental forces. Here, we outline the…
It is argued that quantum gravity has an interpretation as a topological field theory provided a certain constraint from the path intergral measure is respected. The constraint forces us to couple gauge and matter fields to gravity for…
It is apparent to anyone who thinks about it that, to a large degree, the basic concepts of Newtonian physics are quite intuitive, but quantum mechanics is not. My purpose in this talk is to introduce you to a new, much more intuitive way…
We consider the quantization of the midi-superspace associated with a class of spacetimes with toroidal isometries, but without the compact spatial hypersurfaces of the well-known Gowdy models. By a symmetry reduction, the phase space for…