10 research outputs found
Holomorphic Simplicity Constraints for 4d Spinfoam Models
Within the framework of spinfoam models, we revisit the simplicity
constraints reducing topological BF theory to 4d Riemannian gravity. We use the
reformulation of SU(2) intertwiners and spin networks in term of spinors, which
has come out from both the recently developed U(N) framework for SU(2)
intertwiners and the twisted geometry approach to spin networks and spinfoam
boundary states. Using these tools, we are able to perform a
holomorphic/anti-holomorphic splitting of the simplicity constraints and define
a new set of holomorphic simplicity constraints, which are equivalent to the
standard ones at the classical level and which can be imposed strongly on
intertwiners at the quantum level. We then show how to solve these new
holomorphic simplicity constraints using coherent intertwiner states. We
further define the corresponding coherent spin network functionals and
introduce a new spinfoam model for 4d Riemannian gravity based on these
holomorphic simplicity constraints and whose amplitudes are defined from the
evaluation of the new coherent spin networks.Comment: 27 page
Twistorial phase space for complex Ashtekar variables
We generalise the SU(2) spinor framework of twisted geometries developed by
Dupuis, Freidel, Livine, Speziale and Tambornino to the Lorentzian case, that
is the group SL(2,C). We show that the phase space for complex valued Ashtekar
variables on a spinnetwork graph can be decomposed in terms of twistorial
variables. To every link there are two twistors---one to each boundary
point---attached. The formalism provides a new derivation of the solution space
of the simplicity constraints of loop quantum gravity. Key properties of the
EPRL spinfoam model are perfectly recovered.Comment: 18 pages, to appear in: Class. Quantum Gra
Revisiting the Simplicity Constraints and Coherent Intertwiners
In the context of loop quantum gravity and spinfoam models, the simplicity
constraints are essential in that they allow to write general relativity as a
constrained topological BF theory. In this work, we apply the recently
developed U(N) framework for SU(2) intertwiners to the issue of imposing the
simplicity constraints to spin network states. More particularly, we focus on
solving them on individual intertwiners in the 4d Euclidean theory. We review
the standard way of solving the simplicity constraints using coherent
intertwiners and we explain how these fit within the U(N) framework. Then we
show how these constraints can be written as a closed u(N) algebra and we
propose a set of U(N) coherent states that solves all the simplicity
constraints weakly for an arbitrary Immirzi parameter.Comment: 28 page
The Spin Foam Approach to Quantum Gravity
This article reviews the present status of the spin foam approach to the
quantization of gravity. Special attention is payed to the pedagogical
presentation of the recently introduced new models for four dimensional quantum
gravity. The models are motivated by a suitable implementation of the path
integral quantization of the Plebanski formulation of gravity on a simplicial
regularization. The article also includes a self-contained treatment of the 2+1
gravity. The simple nature of the latter provides the basis and a perspective
for the analysis of both conceptual and technical issues that remain open in
four dimensions.Comment: To appear in Living Reviews in Relativit
From the discrete to the continuous - towards a cylindrically consistent dynamics
Discrete models usually represent approximations to continuum physics.
Cylindrical consistency provides a framework in which discretizations mirror
exactly the continuum limit. Being a standard tool for the kinematics of loop
quantum gravity we propose a coarse graining procedure that aims at
constructing a cylindrically consistent dynamics in the form of transition
amplitudes and Hamilton's principal functions. The coarse graining procedure,
which is motivated by tensor network renormalization methods, provides a
systematic approximation scheme towards this end. A crucial role in this coarse
graining scheme is played by embedding maps that allow the interpretation of
discrete boundary data as continuum configurations. These embedding maps should
be selected according to the dynamics of the system, as a choice of embedding
maps will determine a truncation of the renormalization flow.Comment: 22 page