Absence of barriers in dynamical triangulation

Due to the unrecognizability of certain manifolds there must exist pairs of triangulations of these manifolds that can only be reached from each other by going through an intermediate state that is very large. This might reduce the reliability of dynamical triangulation, because there will be states that will not be reached in practice. We investigate this problem numerically for the manifold $S^5$, which is known to be unrecognizable, but see no sign of these unreachable states.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX2e source with postscript resul

Baby Universes in 4d Dynamical Triangulation

We measure numerically the distribution of baby universes in the crumpled phase of the dynamical triangulation model of 4d quantum gravity. The relevance of the results to the issue of an exponential bound is discussed. The data are consistent with the existence of such a bound.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Gravitational binding in 4D dynamical triangulation

In the dynamical triangulation model of four dimensional euclidean quantum gravity we investigate gravitational binding. Two scalar test particles (quenched approximation) have a positive binding energy, thereby showing that the model can represent gravitational attraction.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX2e, version as accepted by Nucl Phys

Foliations and 2+1 Causal Dynamical Triangulation Models

The original models of causal dynamical triangulations construct space-time by arranging a set of simplices in layers separated by a fixed time-like distance. The importance of the foliation structure in the 2+1 dimensional model is studied by considering variations in which this property is relaxed. It turns out that the fixed-lapse condition can be equivalently replaced by a set of global constraints that have geometrical interpretation. On the other hand, the introduction of new types of simplices that puncture the foliating sheets in general leads to different low-energy behavior compared to the original model.Comment: v2: 9 pages, 3 figures, published versio

Quantum Gravity, Dynamical Triangulation and Higer Derivative Regularization

We consider a discrete model of euclidean quantum gravity in four dimensions based on a summation over random simplicial manifolds. The action used is the Einstein-Hilbert action plus an $R^2$-term. The phase diagram as a function of the bare coupling constants is studied in the search for a sensible continuum limit. For small values of the coupling constant of the $R^2$ term the model seems to belong to the same universality class as the model with pure Einstein-Hilbert action and exhibits the same phase transition. The order of the transition may be second or higher. The average curvature is positive at the phase transition, which makes it difficult to understand the possible scaling relations of the model.Comment: 27 pages (Latex), figures not included. Post script file containing 15 figures (1000 blocks) available from [email protected]

Phase Structure of Dynamical Triangulation Models in Three Dimensions

The dynamical triangulation model of three-dimensional quantum gravity is shown to have a line of transitions in an expanded phase diagram which includes a coupling mu to the order of the vertices. Monte Carlo renormalization group and finite size scaling techniques are used to locate and characterize this line. Our results indicate that for mu < mu1 ~ -1.0 the model is always in a crumpled phase independent of the value of the curvature coupling. For mu < 0 the results are in agreement with an approximate mean field treatment. We find evidence that this line corresponds to first order transitions extending to positive mu. However, the behavior appears to change for mu > mu2 ~ 2-4. The simplest scenario that is consistent with the data is the existence of a critical end point

Lattice Quantum Gravity: Review and Recent Developments

We review the status of different approaches to lattice quantum gravity indicating the successes and problems of each. Recent developments within the dynamical triangulation formulation are then described. Plenary talk at LATTICE 95 July 11-15, Melbourne, Australia.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure