Related papers: IR behaviour of one-loop complex $\mathbb{R}\times…
A crucial problem in quantum cosmology is a careful analysis of the one-loop semiclassical approximation for the wave function of the universe, after an appropriate choice of mixed boundary conditions. The results for Euclidean quantum…
We study a lattice regularization of the gravitational path integral--causal dynamical triangulations--for (2+1)-dimensional Einstein gravity with positive cosmological constant in the presence of past and future spacelike boundaries of…
One proposal for dS/CFT is that the Hartle-Hawking (HH) wave function in the large volume limit is equal to the partition function of a Euclidean CFT deformed by various operators. All saddle points defining the semiclassical HH wave…
When the semi-positive cosmological constant is dynamical, the naive Euclidean Einstein action is unbounded from below and the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction of the universe is not normalizable. With the inclusion of back-reaction (a crucial…
A construction of integrable hamiltonian systems associated with different graded realizations of untwisted loop algebras is proposed. Such systems have the form of Euler - Arnold equations on orbits of loop algebras. The proof of…
We consider two-dimensional inviscid irrotational flow in a two layer fluid under the effects of gravity and surface tension. The upper fluid is bounded above by a rigid lid, and the lower fluid is bounded below by a rigid bottom. We use a…
The formulation of two-dimensional quantum gravity at finite cutoff remains an open problem. We revisit this question in JT gravity from two perspectives: the closed-channel bulk path integral and the path integral over boundary curves.…
Asymptotic Safety constitutes a promising mechanism for a consistent and predictive high-energy completion of the gravitational interactions. To date, most results on the interacting renormalization group fixed point underlying the…
We study the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal in the framework of Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity. The former is a prominent hypothesis that describes the quantum creation of the universe, while the latter is a potential theory of quantum…
We consider the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction of the universe defined as a Euclidean path integral that satisfies the "no-boundary proposal." We focus on the simplest minisuperspace model that comprises a single scale factor degree of freedom…
We consider three-dimensional Einstein gravity in Euclidean signature with a finite boundary of torus topology endowed with an induced metric of fixed conformal class and a constant trace of extrinsic curvature $K$. For vanishing, positive,…
We study diffraction catastrophes of wave functions in diffeomorphism invariant quantum theories, for which $\hat H\Psi=0$. These wave functions can be represented in terms of integrations over cycles in a complexified lapse variable $N$.…
We show that the complex saddle points of the no-boundary wave function with a positive cosmological constant and a positive scalar potential have a representation in which the geometry consists of a regular Euclidean AdS domain wall that…
In previous works, we have demonstrated that the path integral for {\it real, Lorentzian} four-geometries in Einstein gravity yields sensible results in well-understood physical situations, but leads to uncontrolled fluctuations when the…
Continuing the program initiated in arXiv:1304.1798 we investigate unitarity methods applied to two-dimensional integrable field theories. The one-loop computation is generalized to encompass theories with different masses in the asymptotic…
We identify a fundamental obstruction to any theory of the beginning of the universe, formulated as a semiclassical path integral. Hartle and Hawking's no boundary proposal and Vilenkin's tunneling proposal are examples of such theories.…
The Lorentzian Hamiltonian constraint is solved for isotropic loop quantum cosmology coupled to a massless scalar field. As in the Euclidean case, the discreteness of quantum geometry removes the classical singularity from the quantum…
The dimensionful nature of the coupling in the Einstein-Hilbert action in four dimensions implies that the theory is non-renormalizable; explicit calculation shows that beginning at two loop order, divergences arise that cannot be removed…
The dimension of the Hilbert space of a quantum gravitational system can be written formally as a path integral partition function over Lorentzian metrics. We implement this in a 2+1 dimensional simplicial minisuperspace model in which the…
We revisit the Hartle-Hawking wave function in AdS spacetime, where natural spatial slices are open and require an additional spacetime boundary. This leads to two constructions: a fully gravitational wave function, in which the boundary…