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Recent progress in quantum field theory and quantum gravity relies on mixed boundary conditions involving both normal and tangential derivatives of the quantized field. In particular, the occurrence of tangential derivatives in the boundary…
In this paper, we construct the phase space of a constantly curved tetrahedron with fixed triangle areas in terms of a pair of Darboux coordinates called the length and twist coordinates, which are in analogy to the Fenchel-Nielsen…
The problem of boundary conditions in a supersymmetric theory of quantum cosmology is studied, with application to the one-loop prefactor in the quantum amplitude. Our background cosmological model is flat Euclidean space bounded by a…
We consider three-dimensional Einstein gravity in Euclidean signature with a finite boundary of torus topology endowed with an induced metric of fixed conformal class and a constant trace of extrinsic curvature $K$. For vanishing, positive,…
In an odd-dimensional spacetime, gravity can be formulated as a proper gauge theory based on the Chern-Simons action for a suitable gauge group. Performing dimensional reduction, one obtains, as an effective theory, Chamseddine's…
We highlight the structure and properties of an abstract approach to quantum cosmology and gravity, dubbed $SU(\infty)$-QGR. Beginning from the concept of the Universe as an isolated quantum system, the main axiom of is the existence of an…
We consider the emergence from quantum entanglement of spacetime geometry in a bulk region. For certain classes of quantum states in an appropriately factorized Hilbert space, a spatial geometry can be defined by associating areas along…
By virtue of the Noether theorems, the vast gauge redundancy of general relativity provides us with a rich algebra of boundary charges that generate physical symmetries. These charges are located at codimension-2 entangling surfaces called…
Coupling any interacting quantum mechanical system to gravity in one dimension requires the cosmological constant to belong to the matter energy spectrum and thus to be quantized, even though the gravity sector is free of any quantum…
Quantum systems are viewed as emergent systems from the fundamental degrees of freedom. The laws and rules of quantum mechanics are understood as an effective description, valid for the emergent systems and specially useful to handle…
We provide a non-perturbative geometrical characterization of the partition function of $n$-dimensional quantum gravity based on a coarse classification of riemannian geometries. We show that, under natural geometrical constraints, the…
I review several different calculations, coming from string theory, nonperturbative quantum gravity and analyses of black holes that lead to predictions of phenomena that would uniquely be signatures of quantum gravitational effects. These…
The problem of finding the quantum theory of the gravitational field, and thus understanding what is quantum spacetime, is still open. One of the most active of the current approaches is loop quantum gravity. Loop quantum gravity is a…
We present a way of understanding the curvature of space-time, the basic philosophy being that the (linear) geometry of any space is determined by the (linear) functionals on the algebra(s) of any fields defined on the space. It is known…
Chern-Simons formulation of 2+1 dimensional Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant is investigated when the spacetime has the topology $ R\times T^{2}$. The physical phase space is shown to be a direct product of two…
As it stands, quantum gravity coupled with matter in three spacetime dimensions is not finite. In this paper I show that an algorithmic procedure that makes it finite exists, under certain conditions. To achieve this result, gravity is…
This paper presents a comprehensive perspective of the metric of quantum states with a focus on the background independent metric structures. We also explore the possibilities of geometrical formulations of quantum mechanics beyond the…
We consider here the Chern-Simons field theory with gauge group SU(N) in the presence of a gravitational background that describes a two-dimensional expanding ``universe". Two special cases are treated here in detail: the spatially flat…
We recast the action principle of four dimensional General Relativity so that it becomes amenable for perturbation theory which doesn't break general covariance. The coupling constant becomes dimensionless (G_{Newton} \Lambda) and extremely…
A discrete class of privileged reference frames in a closed universe with identical equations of motion for physical degrees of freedom was found. A representation of the quantum state of the universe in a privileged reference frame was…