Related papers: Relativistic spin networks and quantum gravity
We develop a geometric approach to spin networks with Heisenberg or XX coupling. Geometry is acquired by defining a distance on the discrete set of spins. The key feature of the geometry of such networks is their Gauss curvature $\kappa$,…
We apply the ideas of Alvarez and Labastida to the invariant of spin networks defined by Witten and Martin based on Chern-Simons theory. We show that it is possible to define ambient invariants of spin networks that (for the case of SU(2))…
We introduce a new basis on the state space of non-perturbative quantum gravity. The states of this basis are linearly independent, are well defined in both the loop representation and the connection representation, and are labeled by a…
I discuss the role played by the spin-network basis and recoupling theory (in its graphical tangle-theoretic formulation) and their use for performing explicit calculations in loop quantum gravity. In particular, I show that recoupling…
The space of states and operators for a large class of background independent theories of quantum spacetime dynamics is defined. The SU(2) spin networks of quantum general relativity are replaced by labelled compact two-dimensional…
Simplicial approximation and the ideas associated with the Regge calculus.provide a concrete way of implementing a sum over histories formulation ofquantum gravity. A four-dimensional simplicial geometry is made up of flat four-simplices…
In this thesis I review the definition of topological quantum field theories through state sums on triangulated manifolds. I describe the construction of state sum invariants of 3-manifolds from a graphical calculus and show how to evaluate…
The kinematics of loop gravity can be given a manifestly Lorentz-covariant formulation: the conventional SU(2)-spin-network Hilbert space can be mapped to a space K of SL(2,C) functions, where Lorentz covariance is manifest. K can be…
A manifestly Lorentz-covariant formulation of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) is given in terms of finite-dimensional representations of the Lorentz group. The formulation accounts for discrete symmetries, such as parity and time-reversal, and…
We present a novel hierarchical construction of projective spin networks of the Ponzano-Regge type from an assembling of five quadrangles up to the combinatorial 4-simplex compatible with a geometrical realization in Euclidean 4-space. The…
We present the construction of a new state sum model for $4d$ Lorentzian quantum gravity based on the description of quantum simplicial geometry in terms of edge vectors. Quantum states and amplitudes for simplicial geometry are built from…
Graphical techniques provide a very useful practical device for calculations involving the so-called spin network states, which encode the quantum degrees of freedom of spatial geometry in loop quantum gravity. Graphical calculus of SU(2),…
We describe random loop models and their relations to a family of quantum spin systems on finite graphs. The family includes spin 1/2 Heisenberg models with possibly anisotropic spin interactions and certain spin 1 models with…
Loop Quantum Gravity defines the quantum states of space geometry as spin networks and describes their evolution in time. We reformulate spin networks in terms of harmonic oscillators and show how the holographic degrees of freedom of the…
We consider quantum transition amplitudes, partition functions and observables for 3D spin foam models within $SU(2)$ quantum group deformation symmetry, where the deformation parameter is a complex fifth root of unity. By considering…
The study of toy models in loop quantum gravity (LQG), defined as truncations of the full theory, is relevant to both the development of the LQG phenomenology, in cosmology and astrophysics, and the progress towards the resolution of the…
We construct lattice gauge theories in which the elements of the link matrices are represented by non-commuting operators acting in a Hilbert space. These quantum link models are related to ordinary lattice gauge theories in the same way as…
We study the existence and limitations for hyperinvariant tensor networks incorporating a local SU(2) symmetry. As discrete implementations of the anti de-Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence, such networks have created…
We discuss the meaning of geometrical constructions associated to loop quantum gravity states on a graph. In particular, we discuss the "twisted geometries" and derive a simple relation between these and Regge geometries.
We define and investigate a quantisation of null hypersurfaces in the context of loop quantum gravity on a fixed graph. The main tool we use is the parametrisation of the theory in terms of twistors, which has already proved useful in…