Quantum Gravity coupled to Matter via Noncommutative Geometry

We show that the principal part of the Dirac Hamiltonian in 3+1 dimensions emerges in a semi-classical approximation from a construction which encodes the kinematics of quantum gravity. The construction is a spectral triple over a configuration space of connections. It involves an algebra of holonomy loops represented as bounded operators on a separable Hilbert space and a Dirac type operator. Semi-classical states, which involve an averaging over points at which the product between loops is defined, are constructed and it is shown that the Dirac Hamiltonian emerges as the expectation value of the Dirac type operator on these states in a semi-classical approximation.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur

Vector supersymmetry in topological field theories

We present a simple derivation of vector supersymmetry transformations for topological field theories of Schwarz- and Witten-type. Our method is similar to the derivation of BRST-transformations from the so-called horizontality conditions or Russian formulae. We show that this procedure reproduces in a concise way the known vector supersymmetry transformations of various topological models and we use it to obtain some new transformations of this type for 4d topological YM-theories in different gauges.Comment: 19 page

Noncommutative spin-1/2 representations

In this letter we apply the methods of our previous paper hep-th/0108045 to noncommutative fermions. We show that the fermions form a spin-1/2 representation of the Lorentz algebra. The covariant splitting of the conformal transformations into a field-dependent part and a \theta-part implies the Seiberg-Witten differential equations for the fermions.Comment: 7 pages, LaTe

IR-Singularities in Noncommutative Perturbative Dynamics?

We analyse the IR-singularities that appear in a noncommutative scalar quantum field theory on $\mathcal{E}_4$. We demonstrate with the help of the quadratic one-loop effective action and an appropriate field redefinition that no IR-singularities exist. No new degrees of freedom are needed to describe the UV/IR-mixing.Comment: 6 pages, amsLaTe

Noncommutative Lorentz Symmetry and the Origin of the Seiberg-Witten Map

We show that the noncommutative Yang-Mills field forms an irreducible representation of the (undeformed) Lie algebra of rigid translations, rotations and dilatations. The noncommutative Yang-Mills action is invariant under combined conformal transformations of the Yang-Mills field and of the noncommutativity parameter \theta. The Seiberg-Witten differential equation results from a covariant splitting of the combined conformal transformations and can be computed as the missing piece to complete a covariant conformal transformation to an invariance of the action.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX. v2: Streamlined proofs and extended discussion of Lorentz transformation

Spin Foams and Noncommutative Geometry

We extend the formalism of embedded spin networks and spin foams to include topological data that encode the underlying three-manifold or four-manifold as a branched cover. These data are expressed as monodromies, in a way similar to the encoding of the gravitational field via holonomies. We then describe convolution algebras of spin networks and spin foams, based on the different ways in which the same topology can be realized as a branched covering via covering moves, and on possible composition operations on spin foams. We illustrate the case of the groupoid algebra of the equivalence relation determined by covering moves and a 2-semigroupoid algebra arising from a 2-category of spin foams with composition operations corresponding to a fibered product of the branched coverings and the gluing of cobordisms. The spin foam amplitudes then give rise to dynamical flows on these algebras, and the existence of low temperature equilibrium states of Gibbs form is related to questions on the existence of topological invariants of embedded graphs and embedded two-complexes with given properties. We end by sketching a possible approach to combining the spin network and spin foam formalism with matter within the framework of spectral triples in noncommutative geometry.Comment: 48 pages LaTeX, 30 PDF figure