Locality and Translations in Braided Ribbon Networks

An overview of microlocality in braided ribbon networks is presented. Following this, a series of definitions are presented to explore the concept of microlocality and the topology of ribbon networks. Isolated substructure of ribbon networks are introduced, and a theorem is proven that allows them to be relocated. This is followed by a demonstration of microlocal translations. Additionally, an investigation into macrolocality and the implications of invariants in braided ribbon networks are presented.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure

Infinite Degeneracy of States in Quantum Gravity

The setting of Braided Ribbon Networks is used to present a general result in spin-networks embedded in manifolds: the existence of an infinite number of species of conserved quantities. Restricted to three-valent networks the number of such conserved quantities in a given network is shown to be invariant barring a single case. The implication of these conserved quantities is discussed in the context of Loop Quantum Gravity.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, v2: some clarifications, no substantial change

Quantum gravity and the standard model

We show that a class of background independent models of quantum spacetime have local excitations that can be mapped to the first generation fermions of the standard model of particle physics. These states propagate coherently as they can be shown to be noiseless subsystems of the microscopic quantum dynamics. These are identified in terms of certain patterns of braiding of graphs, thus giving a quantum gravitational foundation for the topological preon model proposed by one of us. These results apply to a large class of theories in which the Hilbert space has a basis of states given by ribbon graphs embedded in a three-dimensional manifold up to diffeomorphisms, and the dynamics is given by local moves on the graphs, such as arise in the representation theory of quantum groups. For such models, matter appears to be already included in the microscopic kinematics and dynamics.Comment: 12 pages, 21 figures, improved presentation, results unchange

Conserved Quantities in Background Independent Theories

We discuss the difficulties that background independent theories based on quantum geometry encounter in deriving general relativity as the low energy limit. We follow a geometrogenesis scenario of a phase transition from a pre-geometric theory to a geometric phase which suggests that a first step towards the low energy limit is searching for the effective collective excitations that will characterize it. Using the correspondence between the pre-geometric background independent theory and a quantum information processor, we are able to use the method of noiseless subsystems to extract such coherent collective excitations. We illustrate this in the case of locally evolving graphs.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Loop quantum gravity: the first twenty five years

This is a review paper invited by the journal "Classical ad Quantum Gravity" for a "Cluster Issue" on approaches to quantum gravity. I give a synthetic presentation of loop gravity. I spell-out the aims of the theory and compare the results obtained with the initial hopes that motivated the early interest in this research direction. I give my own perspective on the status of the program and attempt of a critical evaluation of its successes and limits.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure