Related papers: Spacetime as a Feynman diagram: the connection for…
Boulatov and Ooguri have generalized the matrix models of 2d quantum gravity to 3d and 4d, in the form of field theories over group manifolds. We show that the Barrett-Crane quantum gravity model arises naturally from a theory of this type,…
In this study, we model a spin-network in loop quantum gravity as a regular tetrahedral lattice, applying lattice physics techniques to study its structure and vertex dynamics. Using the area eigenvalue, $A\propto 8\pi l_P^2$, we derive a…
We present a new group field theory describing 3d Riemannian quantum gravity coupled to matter fields for any choice of spin and mass. The perturbative expansion of the partition function produces fat graphs colored with SU(2) algebraic…
Effective spin foams provide the computationally most efficient spin foam models yet and are therefore ideally suited for applications e.g. to quantum cosmology. We provide here the first effective spin foam computations of a finite time…
The first computation of a spin foam dynamics that provides a test of the quantum equations of motions of gravity is presented. Specifically, a triangulation that includes an inner edge is treated. The computation leverages the recently…
Scalar lattice gauge theories are models for scalar fields with local gauge symmetries. No fundamental gauge fields, or link variables in a lattice regularization, are introduced. The latter rather emerge as collective excitations composed…
Group field theories are a generalization of matrix models which provide both a second quantized reformulation of loop quantum gravity as well as generating functions for spin foam models. While states in canonical loop quantum gravity, in…
What can we learn about quantum gravity from a simple toy model, without actually quantizing it? The toy model consists of a finite number of point particles, coupled to three dimensional Einstein gravity. It has finitely many physical…
We give a general definition of spin foam models, and then of models of 4d quantum gravity based on constraining BF theory. We highlight the construction and quantization ambiguities entering model building, among which the choice of…
We show that N = 1 supersymmetric BF theory in 3d leads to a supersymmetric spin foam amplitude via a lattice discretisation. Furthermore, by analysing the supersymmetric quantum amplitudes, we show that they can be re-interpreted as 3d…
We present a toy model for interacting matter and geometry that explores quantum dynamics in a spin system as a precursor to a quantum theory of gravity. The model has no a priori geometric properties, instead, locality is inferred from the…
Close to the Planck energy scale, the quantum nature of space-time reveals itself and all forces, including gravity, should be unified so that all interactions correspond to just one underlying symmetry. In the absence of a full quantum…
A spinor theory on a space with linear Lie type noncommutativity among spatial coordinates is presented. The model is based on the Fourier space corresponding to spatial coordinates, as this Fourier space is commutative. When the group is…
Just as 3d state sum models, including 3d quantum gravity, can be built using categories of group representations, "2-categories of 2-group representations" may provide interesting state sum models for 4d quantum topology, if not quantum…
It is known that the Einstein-Hilbert action with a positive cosmological constant can be represented as a perturbation of the SO(4,1) BF theory by a symmetry-breaking term quadratic in the B field. Introducing fermionic matter generates…
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…
New progress in loop gravity has lead to a simple model of `general-covariant quantum field theory'. I sum up the definition of the model in self-contained form, in terms accessible to those outside the subfield. I emphasize its formulation…
One of several possibilities to construct a quantum theory of gravity is employing the Feynman path integral. This approach is plagued by some problems: the integration measure is not uniquely defined, the Einstein-Hilbert action unbounded,…
We construct a well-defined lattice-regularized quantum theory formulated in terms of fundamental fermion and gauge fields, the same type of degrees of freedom as in the Standard Model. The theory is explicitly invariant under local Lorentz…
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…