1,077 research outputs found
Riemannian simplices and triangulations
We study a natural intrinsic definition of geometric simplices in Riemannian
manifolds of arbitrary dimension , and exploit these simplices to obtain
criteria for triangulating compact Riemannian manifolds. These geometric
simplices are defined using Karcher means. Given a finite set of vertices in a
convex set on the manifold, the point that minimises the weighted sum of
squared distances to the vertices is the Karcher mean relative to the weights.
Using barycentric coordinates as the weights, we obtain a smooth map from the
standard Euclidean simplex to the manifold. A Riemannian simplex is defined as
the image of this barycentric coordinate map. In this work we articulate
criteria that guarantee that the barycentric coordinate map is a smooth
embedding. If it is not, we say the Riemannian simplex is degenerate. Quality
measures for the "thickness" or "fatness" of Euclidean simplices can be adapted
to apply to these Riemannian simplices. For manifolds of dimension 2, the
simplex is non-degenerate if it has a positive quality measure, as in the
Euclidean case. However, when the dimension is greater than two, non-degeneracy
can be guaranteed only when the quality exceeds a positive bound that depends
on the size of the simplex and local bounds on the absolute values of the
sectional curvatures of the manifold. An analysis of the geometry of
non-degenerate Riemannian simplices leads to conditions which guarantee that a
simplicial complex is homeomorphic to the manifold
The geometry of dynamical triangulations
We discuss the geometry of dynamical triangulations associated with
3-dimensional and 4-dimensional simplicial quantum gravity. We provide
analytical expressions for the canonical partition function in both cases, and
study its large volume behavior. In the space of the coupling constants of the
theory, we characterize the infinite volume line and the associated critical
points. The results of this analysis are found to be in excellent agreement
with the MonteCarlo simulations of simplicial quantum gravity. In particular,
we provide an analytical proof that simply-connected dynamically triangulated
4-manifolds undergo a higher order phase transition at a value of the inverse
gravitational coupling given by 1.387, and that the nature of this transition
can be concealed by a bystable behavior. A similar analysis in the
3-dimensional case characterizes a value of the critical coupling (3.845) at
which hysteresis effects are present.Comment: 166 pages, Revtex (latex) fil
The existence of thick triangulations -- an "elementary" proof
We provide an alternative, simpler proof of the existence of thick
triangulations for noncompact manifolds. Moreover, this proof
is simpler than the original one given in \cite{pe}, since it mainly uses tools
of elementary differential topology. The role played by curvatures in this
construction is also emphasized.Comment: 7 pages Short not
Polymeric Phase of Simplicial Quantum Gravity
We deduce the appearance of a polymeric phase in 4-dimensional simplicial
quantum gravity by varying the values of the coupling constants and discuss the
geometric structure of the phase in terms of ergodic moves. A similar result is
true in 3-dimensions.Comment: 6 pages, revte
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