Related papers: ``Sum over Surfaces'' form of Loop Quantum Gravity
A lattice quantum gravity model in 4 dimensional Riemannian spacetime is constructed based on the SU(2) Ashtekar formulation of general relativity. This model can be understood as one of the family of models sometimes called ``spin foam…
The different roles and natures of spacetime appearing in a quantum field theory and in classical physics are analyzed implying that a quantum theory of gravitation is not necessarily a quantum theory of curved spacetime. Developing an…
A major unsolved problem in theoretical physics is to reconcile the classical theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics. These lectures will deal with an attempt to describe quantum gravity as a path integral over geometries known…
Based on a recent paper by Takhtajan, we propose a formulation of 2D quantum gravity whose basic object is the Liouville action on the Riemann sphere $\Sigma_{0,m+n}$ with both parabolic and elliptic points. The identification of the…
We propose a formulation of gravity theory in the form of a field theory in a flat space-time with a number of dimensions greater than four. Configurations of the field under consideration describe the splitting of this space-time into a…
We explore the sum over topologies in AdS$_3$ quantum gravity and its relationship with the statistical interpretation of the boundary theory. We formulate a statistical version of the conformal bootstrap that systematizes the universal…
We expect quantum field theories for matter to acquire intricate corrections due to their coupling to quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field. This can be precisely worked out in 3d quantum gravity: after integrating out quantum…
We give a very concise review of the group field theory formalism for non-perturbative quantum gravity, a higher dimensional generalisation of matrix models. We motivate it as a simplicial and local realisation of the idea of 3rd…
We explain how quantum gravity can be defined by quantizing spacetime itself. A pinpoint is that the gravitational constant G = L_P^2 whose physical dimension is of (length)^2 in natural unit introduces a symplectic structure of spacetime…
We study the quantum fermions+gravity system, that is, the gravitational counterpart of QED. We start from the standard Einstein-Weyl theory, reformulated in terms of Ashtekar variables; and we construct its non- perturbative quantum theory…
These notes are a didactic overview of the non perturbative and background independent approach to a quantum theory of gravity known as loop quantum gravity. The definition of real connection variables for general relativity, used as a…
We present some approaches to the perturbative analysis of the classical and quantum gravity. First we introduce a graphical representation for a global SO(n) tensor $(\pl)^d h_\ab$, which generally appears in the weak field expansion…
In a previous work [arXiv:2009.03428] we proposed a new model for Quantum GRavity(QGR) and cosmology, dubbed $SU(\infty)$-QGR. One of the axioms of this model is that Hilbert spaces of the Universe and its subsystems represent $SU(\infty)$…
It is well-known that the sum over topologies in quantum gravity is ill-defined, due to a super-exponential growth of the number of geometries as a function of the space-time volume, leading to a badly divergent gravitational path integral.…
Feynman's sum-over-histories formulation of quantum mechanics is reviewed as an independent statement of quantum theory in spacetime form. It is different from the usual Schr\"odinger-Heisenberg formulation that utilizes states on spacelike…
Dynamical quantum field theories (QFTs), such as those in which spacetimes are equipped with a metric and/or a field in the form of a smooth map to a target manifold, can be formulated axiomatically using the language of…
We show that the partition function of the Ponzano-Regge quantum gravity model can be written as a sum over surfaces in a $(2+1)$ dimensional space-time. We suggest a geometrical meaning, in terms of surfaces, for the (regulated)…
The possible interpretations of a new continuum model for the two-dimensional quantum gravity for $d>1$ ($d$=matter central charge), obtained by carefully treating both diffeomorphism and Weyl symmetries, are discussed. In particular we…
The method of four-dimensional Causal Dynamical Triangulations provides a background-independent definition of the sum over geometries in quantum gravity, in the presence of a positive cosmological constant. We present the evidence…
This thesis is broadly split into two parts. In the first part, simple state sum models for minimally coupled fermion and scalar fields are constructed on a $1$-manifold. The models are independent of the triangulation and give the same…