Related papers: Flat Spacetime Vacuum in Loop Quantum Gravity
I argue that the conventional field theoretic notion of vacuum state is not valid in quantum gravity. The arguments use gravitational effective field theory, as well as results from string theory, particularly the AdS/CFT correspondence.…
We investigate the construction of coherent states for quantum theories of connections based on graphs embedded in a spatial manifold, as in loop quantum gravity. We discuss the many subtleties of the construction, mainly related to the…
Spatially homogeneous universes can be described in (loop) quantum gravity as condensates of elementary excitations of space. Their treatment is easiest in the second-quantised group field theory formalism which allows the adaptation of…
We construct a new vacuum for loop quantum gravity, which is dual to the Ashtekar-Lewandowski vacuum. Because it is based on BF theory, this new vacuum is physical for $(2+1)$-dimensional gravity, and much closer to the spirit of spin foam…
The discrete picture of geometry arising from the loop representation of quantum gravity can be extended by a quantum deformation. The operators for area and volume defined in the q-deformation of the theory are partly diagonalized. The…
We give a standard introduction to loop quantum gravity, from the ADM variables to spin network states. We include a discussion on quantum geometry on a fixed graph and its relation to a discrete approximation of general relativity.
Spin foam models are an approach to quantum gravity based on the concept of sum over states, which aims to describe quantum spacetime dynamics in a way that its parent framework, loop quantum gravity, has not as of yet succeeded. Since…
In the context of (2+1)--dimensional quantum gravity with negative cosmological constant and topology R x T^2, constant matrix--valued connections generate a q--deformed representation of the fundamental group, and signed area phases relate…
This article presents an "in-a-nutshell" yet self-contained introductory review on loop quantum gravity (LQG) -- a background-independent, nonperturbative approach to a consistent quantum theory of gravity. Instead of rigorous and…
We construct a canonical formulation of general relativity for the case of a timelike foliation of spacetime. The formulation possesses explicit covariance with respect to Lorentz transformations in the tangent space. Applying the loop…
A covariant spin-foam formulation of quantum gravity has been recently developed, characterized by a kinematics which appears to match well the one of canonical loop quantum gravity. In this paper we reconsider the implementation of the…
We propose a new method of unifying gravity and the Standard Model by introducing a spin-foam model. We realize a unification between an SU(2) Yang-Mills interaction and 3D general relativity by considering a Spin(4) Plebanski action. The…
We discuss the action of the configuration operators of loop quantum gravity. In particular, we derive the generalised eigenbasis for the Wilson loop operator and show that the transformation between this basis and the spin-network basis is…
We perform a quantization of the loop gravity phase space purely in terms of spinorial variables, which have recently been shown to provide a direct link between spin network states and simplicial geometries. The natural Hilbert space to…
In loop quantum cosmology, one has to make a choice of SU(2) irreducible representation in which to compute holonomies and regularize the curvature of the connection. The systematic choice made in the literature is to work in the…
Group field theories represent a 2nd quantized reformulation of the loop quantum gravity state space and a completion of the spin foam formalism. States of the canonical theory, in the traditional continuum setting, have support on graphs…
Starting from the reformulation of the classical phase space of Loop Quantum Gravity in terms of spinor variables and spinor networks, we build coherent spin network states and show how to use them to write the spinfoam path integral for…
A set of diverse but mutually consistent results obtained in different settings has spawned a new view of loop quantum gravity and its physical implications, based on the interplay of operator calculations and effective theory: Quantum…
General relativity promotes space-time to a physical, dynamical object subject to equations of motion. Quantum gravity, accordingly, must provide a quantum framework for space-time, applicable on the smallest distance scales. Just like…
We show how the path integral for gravity and matter on a piecewise flat spacetime can be used to define the physical quantum gravity states and the related transition amplitudes. The physical states are given by the path integrals for open…