Related papers: Finite, diffeomorphism invariant observables in qu…
Loop quantum gravity (LQG) is a quantization program for gravity based on the principles of QFT and general covariance of general relativity. Quantum states of LQG describe gravitational excitations based on graphs embedded in a spatial…
This paper summarizes a new proposal to define rigorously a sector of loop quantum gravity at the diffeomorphism invariant level corresponding to homogeneous and isotropic cosmologies, thereby enabling a detailed comparison of results in…
The application of the notion of `observable' from gauge theory to diffeomorphism-invariant theories -- most relevantly to general relativity -- has led to numerous conceptual and technical issues when interpreting classical theories with…
We postulate that the fundamental principles of Quantum Gravity are diffeomorphism symmetry, unitarity, and locality. Local observables are compatible with diffeomorphism symmetry in the presence of diff anomalies, which modify the symmetry…
Over the past five years, there has been significant progress on the problem of quantization of diffeomorphism covariant field theories with {\it local} degrees of freedom. The absence of a background space-time metric in these theories…
We present a new scheme of defining invariant observables for general relativistic systems. The scheme is based on the introduction of an observer which endowes the construction with a straightforward physical interpretation. The…
This is an introduction to an algebraic construction of a gravity theory on noncommutative spaces which is based on a deformed algebra of (infinitesimal) diffeomorphisms. We start with some fundamental ideas and concepts of noncommutative…
We develop a quantum effective action for scalar-tensor theories of gravity which is both spacetime diffeomorphism invariant and field reparameterisation (frame) invariant beyond the classical approximation. We achieve this by extending the…
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 particular, the geometrical observable giving the area…
We construct a space of quantum states and an algebra of quantum observables, over the set of all metrics of arbitrary but fixed signature, defined on a manifold. The construction is diffeomorphism invariant, and unique up to natural…
We address the role of large diffeomorphisms in Witten's 2+1 gravity on the manifold ${\bf R} \times T^2$. In a ``spacelike sector" quantum theory that treats the large diffeomorphisms as a symmetry, rather than as gauge, the Hilbert space…
Free scalar field theory on 2 dimensional flat spacetime, cast in diffeomorphism invariant guise by treating the inertial coordinates of the spacetime as dynamical variables, is quantized using LQG type `polymer' representations for the…
Effective field theories describing gravity coupled to matter are investigated, allowing for operators of arbitrary mass dimension. Terms violating local Lorentz and diffeomorphism invariance while preserving internal gauge symmetries are…
Local operators are the basic observables in quantum field theory which encode the physics observed by a local experimentalist. However, when gravity is dynamical, diffeomorphism symmetries are gauged which apparently obstructs a sensible…
Tensor networks prepare states that share many features of states in quantum gravity. However, standard constructions are not diffeomorphism invariant and do not support an algebra of non-commuting area operators. Recently, analogues of…
As the theory is subject to a section condition, coordinates in double field theory do not represent physical points in an injective manner. We argue that a physical point should be rather one-to-one identified with a `gauge orbit' in the…
Let a differential 4D-manifold with a smooth coframe field be given. Consider the operators on it that are linear in the second order derivatives or quadratic in the first order derivatives of the coframe, both with coefficients that depend…
Important characteristics of the loop approach to quantum gravity are a specific choice of the algebra A of observables and of a representation of A on a measure space over the space of generalized connections. This representation is…
A set of observables is described for the topological quantum field theory which describes quantum gravity in three space-time dimensions with positive signature and positive cosmological constant. The simplest examples measure the…
We extend ideas developed for the loop representation of quantum gravity to diffeomorphism-invariant gauge theories coupled to fermions. Let P -> Sigma be a principal G-bundle over space and let F be a vector bundle associated to P whose…