Related papers: Spin Foam Models of Quantum Spacetime

We propose a new systematic approach that allows one to derive the spin foam (state sum) model of a theory starting from the corresponding classical action functional. It can be applied to any theory whose action can be written as that of…

Spin Foam Models are supposed to be discretised path integrals for quantum gravity constructed from the Plebanski-Holst action. The reason for there being several models currently under consideration is that no consensus has been reached…

This thesis is devoted to the study of 3-dimensional quantum gravity as a spin foam model and group field theory. In the first part of this thesis, we review some general physical and mathematical aspects of 3-dimensional gravity, focusing…

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…

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…

A key point in the spin foam approach to quantum gravity is the implementation of simplicity constraints in the partition functions of the models. Here, we discuss the imposition of these constraints in a phase space setting corresponding…

Spin-foam models are hoped to provide a dynamics for loop quantum gravity. These start from the Plebanski formulation of gravity, in which gravity is obtained from a topological field theory, BF theory, through constraints, which, however,…

The spectral dimension has proven to be a very informative observable to understand the properties of quantum geometries in approaches to quantum gravity. In loop quantum gravity and its spin foam description, it has not been possible so…

We present an introduction to Group Field Theory models, motivating them on the basis of their relationship with discretized BF models of gravity. We derive the Feynmann rules and compute quantum corrections in the coherent states basis.

We give a very brief introduction to the group field theory approach to quantum gravity, a generalisation of matrix models for 2-dimensional quantum gravity to higher dimension, that has emerged recently from research in spin foam models.

The Barrett-Crane spin foam model for quantum gravity provides an excellent setting for testing analytical and numerical tools used to probe spinfoam models. Here, we complete the report on the numerical analysis of the single 4-simplex…

We show how Feynman amplitudes of standard QFT on flat and homogeneous space can naturally be recast as the evaluation of observables for a specific spin foam model, which provides dynamics for the background geometry. We identify the…

The metric field of general relativity is almost fully determined by its causal structure. Yet, in spin-foam models for quantum gravity, the role played by the causal structure is still largely unexplored. The goal of this paper is to…

We give an introductory account to the renormalization of models without metric background. We sketch the application to certain discrete models of quantum gravity such as spin foam models.

A dual formulation of group field theories, obtained by a Fourier transform mapping functions on a group to functions on its Lie algebra, has been proposed recently. In the case of the Ooguri model for SO(4) BF theory, the variables of the…

We provide a simple proof of the topological invariance of the Turaev-Viro model (corresponding to simplicial 3d pure Euclidean gravity with cosmological constant) by means of a novel diagrammatic formulation of the state sum models for…

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…

It has been recently shown that a certain non-topological spin foam model can be obtained from the Feynman expansion of a field theory over a group. The field theory defines a natural ``sum over triangulations'', which removes the cut off…

In 4 dimensions, general relativity can be formulated as a constrained $BF$ theory; we show that the same is true in 2 dimensions. We describe a spinfoam quantization of this constrained BF-formulation of 2d riemannian general relativity,…

Spin foams of 4d gravity were recently extended from complexes with purely spacelike surfaces to complexes that also contain timelike surfaces. In this article, we express the associated partition function in terms of vertex amplitudes and…