Related papers: Relating Spin Foams and Canonical Quantum Gravity:…
This article has been replaced by gr-qc/0412011
The spin foam framework provides a way to define the dynamics of canonical loop quantum gravity in a spacetime covariant way, by using a path integral over histories of quantum states which can be interpreted as `quantum space-times'. This…
In this article we lay foundations for a formal relationship of spin foam models of gravity and BF theory to their continuum canonical formulations. First the derivation of the spin foam model of the BF theory from the discrete BF theory…
In this article we give a systematic definition of the recently introduced spin foam models for four dimensional quantum gravity reviewing the main results on their semiclassical limit on fixed discretizations.
This article reviews the present status of the spin foam approach to the quantization of gravity. Special attention is payed to the pedagogical presentation of the recently introduced new models for four dimensional quantum gravity. The…
In this article we review the present status of the spin foam formulation of non-perturbative (background independent) quantum gravity. The article is divided in two parts. In the first part we present a general introduction to the main…
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.
Spin foam models are a new approach to a formulation of quantum gravity which is fully background independent, non-perturbative, and covariant, in the spirit of path integral formulations of quantum field theory. In this thesis we describe…
This review is devoted to the analysis of the mutual consistency of the spin foam and canonical loop quantizations in three and four spacetime dimensions. In the three-dimensional context, where the two approaches are in good agreement, we…
This paper is twofold. First of all a complete unified picture of $n$-dimensional quantum gravity is proposed in the following sense: In spin foam models of quantum gravity the evaluation of spin networks play a very important role. These…
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…
This paper was withdrawn by the authors because it has been supplanted by gr-qc/0311007 and gr-qc/0311038.
We numerically study Barrett-Crane models of Riemannian quantum gravity. We have extended the existing numerical techniques to handle q-deformed models and arbitrary space-time triangulations. We present and interpret expectation values of…
Loop quantum gravity has provided us with a canonical framework especially devised for background independent and diffeomorphism invariant gauge field theories. In this quantization the fundamental excitations are called spin network…
Spin foam models, loop quantum gravity and group field theory are discussed as quantum gravity candidate theories and usually involve a continuous Lie group. We advocate here to consider quantum gravity inspired models with finite groups,…
The spinfoam framework is a proposal for a regularized path integral for quantum gravity. Spinfoams define quantum space-time structures describing the evolution in time of the spin network states for quantum geometry derived from Loop…
We give a short review of the spin foam models of quantum gravity, with an emphasis on the Barret-Crane model. After explaining the shortcomings of the Barret-Crane model, we briefly discuss two new approaches, one based on the 3d spin foam…
We give a brief and a critical review of the Barret-Crane spin foam models of quantum gravity. Then we describe two new spin foam models which are obtained by direct quantization of General Relativity and do not have some of the drawbacks…
Spin Foam Models (SFMs) are covariant formulations of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) in 4 dimensions. This work studies the perturbations of SFMs on a flat background. It demonstrates for the first time that smooth curved spacetime geometries…
I review the formalism of loop quantum gravity, in both its real and complex formulations, and spin foam theory which is its path integral counterpart. Spin networks for non-compact groups are introduced (following hep-th/0205268) to deal…