Related papers: Reduced models for quantum gravity
In this paper explore the relation between covariant and canonical approaches to quantum gravity and $BF$ theory. We will focus on the dynamical triangulation and spin-foam models, which have in common that they can be defined in terms of…
A midi-superspace model is a field theory obtained by symmetry reduction of a parent gravitational theory. Such models have proven useful for exploring the classical and quantum dynamics of the gravitational field. I present 3 recent…
This thesis discusses the topological aspects of quantum gravity, focusing on the connection between 2D quantum gravity and 2D topological gravity. The mathematical background for the discussion is presented in the first two chapters. The…
We investigate the quantum geometry of $2d$ surface $S$ bounding the Cauchy slices of 4d gravitational system. We investigate in detail and for the first time the symplectic current that naturally arises boundary term in the first order…
The abstract quantum algebra of observables for 2+1 gravity is analysed in the limit of small cosmological constant. The algebra splits into two sets with an explicit phase space representation;~one set consists of $6g-6$ {\it commuting}…
We study point particles in 2+1 dimensional first order gravity using a triangulation to fix the connection and frame-field. The Hamiltonian is reduced to a boundary term which yields the total mass. The triangulation is dynamical with…
We study a type of geometric theory with a non-dynamical one-form field. Its dynamical variables are an $su(2)$ gauge field and a triad of $su(2)$ valued one-forms. Hamiltonian decomposition reveals that the theory has a true Hamiltonian,…
Several approaches to the dynamics of loop quantum gravity involve discretizing the equations of motion. The resulting discrete theories are known to be problematic since the first class algebra of constraints of the continuum theory…
The mathematical apparatus of quantum--mechanical angular momentum (re)coupling, developed originally to describe spectroscopic phenomena in atomic, molecular, optical and nuclear physics, is embedded in modern algebraic settings which…
We review and discuss the role of diffeomorphism symmetry in quantum gravity models. Such models often involve a discretization of the space-time manifold as a regularization method. Generically this leads to a breaking of the symmetries to…
In order to study 3d loop quantum gravity coupled to matter, we consider a simplified model of abelian quantum gravity, the so-called U(1)^3 model. Abelian gravity coupled to a scalar field shares a lot of commonalities with parameterized…
The kinematical setting of spherically symmetric quantum geometry, derived from the full theory of loop quantum gravity, is developed. This extends previous studies of homogeneous models to inhomogeneous ones where interesting field theory…
Starting from an action for discretized gravity we derive a canonical formalism that exactly reproduces the dynamics and (broken) symmetries of the covariant formalism. For linearized Regge calculus on a flat background -- which exhibits…
The requirement that physical phenomena associated with gravitational collapse should be duly reconciled with the postulates of quantum mechanics implies that at a Planckian scale our world is not 3+1 dimensional. Rather, the observable…
Loop Quantum Gravity provides a natural truncation of the infinite degrees of freedom of gravity, obtained by studying the theory on a given finite graph. We review this procedure and we present the construction of the canonical theory on a…
A three dimensional generally covariant theory is described that has a 2+1 canonical decomposition in which the Hamiltonian constraint, which generates the dynamics, is absent. Physical observables for the theory are described and the…
We present a new quantization scheme for $2D$ gravity coupled to an $SU(2)$ principal chiral field and a dilaton; this model represents a slightly simplified version of stationary axisymmetric quantum gravity. The analysis makes use of the…
The canonical approach to quantum gravity has been put on a firm mathematical foundation in the recent decades. Even the quantum dynamics can be rigorously defined, however, due to the tremendously non-polynomial character of the…
The nature of the classical canonical phase-space variables for gravity suggests that the associated quantum field operators should obey affine commutation relations rather than canonical commutation relations. Prior to the introduction of…
In the investigation and resolution of the cosmological constant problem the inclusion of the dynamics of quantum gravity can be a crucial step. In this work we suggest that the quantum constraints in a canonical theory of gravity can…