We compute the transition amplitude between coherent quantum-states of geometry peaked on homogeneous isotropic metrics. We use the holomorphic representations of loop quantum gravity and the Kaminski-Kisielowski-Lewandowski generalization of the new vertex, and work at first order in the vertex expansion, second order in the graph (multipole) expansion, and first order in 1/volume. We show that the resulting amplitude is in the kernel of a differential operator whose classical limit is the canonical hamiltonian of a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology. This result is an indication that the dynamics of loop quantum gravity defined by the new vertex yields the Friedmann equation in the appropriate limit.
The proper vertex amplitude is derived from the EPRL vertex by restricting to a single gravitational sector in order to achieve the correct semi-classical behaviour. We apply the proper vertex to calculate a cosmological transition amplitude that can be viewed as the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction. To perform this calculation we deduce the integral form of the proper vertex and use extended stationary phase methods to estimate the large-volume limit. We show that the resulting amplitude satisfies an operator constraint whose classical analogue is the Hamiltonian constraint of the Friedmann-Robert…
The quantum dynamics of the flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker and Bianchi I models defined by loop quantum cosmology have recently been translated into a spinfoam-like formalism. The construction is facilitated by the presence of a massless scalar field which is used as an internal clock. The implicit integration over the matter variable leads to a nonlocal spinfoam amplitude. In this paper we consider a vacuum Bianchi I universe and show that by choosing an appropriate regulator a spinfoam expansion can be obtained without selecting a clock variable and that the resulting spinfoam ampl…
We consider a simple modification of the amplitude defining the dynamics of loop quantum gravity, corresponding to the introduction of the cosmological constant, and possibly related to the SL(2,C)q extension of the theory recently considered by Fairbairn-Meusburger and Han. We show that in the context of spinfoam cosmology, this modification yields the de Sitter cosmological solution.
We consider the technique introduced in a recent work by Ashtekar, Campiglia and Henderson, which generate a spinfoam-like sum from a Hamiltonian theory. We study the possibility of using it for finding the generalized projector of a constraint on physical states, without first deparametrising the system. We illustrate this technique in the context of a very simple example. We discuss the infinities that appear in the calculation, and argue that they can be appropriately controlled. We apply these ideas to write a spinfoam expansion for the "dipole cosmology".
We examine spinfoam cosmology by use of a simple graph adapted to homogeneous cosmological models. We calculate dynamics in the isotropic limit, and provide the framework for the aniostropic case. The dynamical behaviour is calculating transition amplitudes between holomorphic coherent states on a single node graph. The resultant dynamics is peaked on solutions which have no support on the zero volume state, indicating that big bang type singularities are avoided within such models.
Quantum cosmology is usually studied quantizing symmetry-reduced variables. Is it possible, instead, to define quantum cosmology starting from the full quantum gravity theory? In Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), it is possible to cut the degrees of freedom in a suitable way, in order to define a cosmological model. Such a model provides a tool for describing general fluctuations of the quantum geometry at the bounce that replaces the initial singularity. I focus on its simplest version, a "dipole" formed by two tetrahedra. This has been shown to describe a universe with anisotropic and inhomogenous…
The dynamics of a homogeneous, anisotropic universe are investigated within the context of spinfoam cosmology. Transition amplitudes are calculated for a graph consisting of a single node and three links - the `Daisy graph' - probing the behaviour a classical Bianchi I spacetime. It is shown further how the use of such single node graphs gives rise to a simplification of states such that all orders in the spin expansion can be calculated, indicating that it is the vertex expansion that contains information about quantum dynamics.
We introduce a new spinfoam vertex to be used in models of 4d quantum gravity based on SU(2) and SO(4) BF theory plus constraints. It can be seen as the conventional vertex of SU(2) BF theory, the 15j symbol, in a particular basis constructed using SU(2) coherent states. This basis makes the geometric interpretation of the variables transparent: they are the vectors normal to the triangles within each tetrahedron. We study the condition under which these states can be considered semiclassical, and we show that the semiclassical ones dominate the evaluation of quantum correlations. Finally, we …
We explore how to extract effective dynamics from loop quantum gravity and spinfoams truncated to a finite fixed graph, with the hope of modeling symmetry-reduced gravitational systems. We particularize our study to the 2-vertex graph with N links. We describe the canonical data using the recent formulation of the phase space in terms of spinors, and implement a symmetry-reduction to the homogeneous and isotropic sector. From the canonical point of view, we construct a consistent Hamiltonian for the model and discuss its relation with Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies. Then, we analyze th…
The first-order loop quantum gravity correction of the simplest, classical general-relativistic Friedmann Hamiltonian constraint, emerging from a holomorphic spinfoam cosmological model peaked on homogeneous, isotropic geometries, is studied. The quantum Hamiltonian constraint, satisfied by the EPRL transition amplitude between the boundary cosmological coherent states, includes a contribution of the order of the Planck constant $\hbar$ that also appears in the corresponding semiclassical symplectic model. The analysis of this term gives a quantum-gravitational correction to the classical Frie…
This work focuses on Conrady-Hnybida's 4-dimensional extended spinfoam model with timelike polyhedra, while we restrict all faces to be spacelike. Firstly, we prove the absolute convergence of the vertex amplitude with timelike polyhedra, when SU(1,1) boundary states are coherent states or the canonical basis, or their finite linear combinations. Secondly, based on the finite vertex amplitude and a proper prescription of the SU(1,1) intertwiner space, we construct the extended spinfoam amplitude on arbitrary cellular complex, taking into account the sum over SU(1,1) intertwiners of internal ti…
We study the behaviour of the Lorentzian Engle-Pereira-Rovelli-Livine spinfoam amplitude with homogeneous boundary data, under a graph refinement going from five to twenty boundary tetrahedra. This can be interpreted as a wave function of the universe, for which we compute boundary geometrical operators, correlation functions and entanglement entropy. The numerical calculation is made possible by adapting the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, along with recently developed computational methods appropriate for the deep quantum regime. We confirm that the transition amplitudes are stable against su…
We introduce a vertex amplitude for 4d loop quantum gravity. We derive it from a conventional quantization of a Regge discretization of euclidean general relativity. This yields a spinfoam sum that corrects some difficulties of the Barrett-Crane theory. The second class simplicity constraints are imposed weakly, and not strongly as in Barrett-Crane theory. Thanks to a flip in the quantum algebra, the boundary states turn out to match those of SO(3) loop quantum gravity -- the two can be identified as eigenstates of the same physical quantities -- providing a solution to the problem of connecti…
We study a holomorphic representation for spinfoams. The representation is obtained via the Ashtekar-Lewandowski-Marolf-Mourão-Thiemann coherent state transform. We derive the expression of the 4d spinfoam vertex for Euclidean and for Lorentzian gravity in the holomorphic representation. The advantage of this representation rests on the fact that the variables used have a clear interpretation in terms of a classical intrinsic and extrinsic geometry of space. We show how the peakedness on the extrinsic geometry selects a single exponential of the Regge action in the semiclassical large-scale as…
Recently a quantum group deformation of EPRL spinfoam model was proposed in arXiv:1012.4216 by one of the authors, and in arXiv:1012.4784 by Fairbairn and Meusburger. It is interesting to study the high spin asymptotics of the quantum group spinfoam model, to see if it gives the discrete Einstein gravity with cosmological constant as its semiclassical limit. In this article we propose a new technique, which can simplify the analysis of the high spin asymptotics for quantum group spinfoam vertex amplitude. This technique can generalize the spinfoam asymptotic analysis developed by Barrett, et a…
I briefly review the advancements in the construction of the graviton propagator in the context of LQG and Spinfoam Models. In particular the problems of the Barrett-Crane vertex in giving the correct long-distance limit and the introduction of the new corrected models. This kind of calculation applied to an alternative vertex with given asymptotic can give the correct propagator and is then able to help selecting spinfoam models. In particular the study of the asymptotic properties of the new models shows the predicted behavior able to overcome the BC difficulties and to give the correct prop…
We present an improved formulation of 4-dimensional Lorentzian spinfoam quantum gravity with cosmological constant. The construction of spinfoam amplitudes uses the state-integral model of PSL(2,$\mathbb{C}$) Chern-Simons theory and the implementation of simplicity constraint. The formulation has 2 key features: (1) spinfoam amplitudes are all finite, and (2) With suitable boundary data, the semiclassical asymptotics of the vertex amplitude has two oscillatory terms, with phase plus or minus the 4-dimensional Lorentzian Regge action with cosmological constant for the constant curvature 4-simpl…
This paper presents a Hamiltonian formulation of spinfoam-gravity, which leads to a straight-forward canonical quantisation. To begin with, we derive a continuum action adapted to the simplicial decomposition. The equations of motion admit a Hamiltonian formulation, allowing us to perform the constraint analysis. We do not find any secondary constraints, but only get restrictions on the Lagrange multipliers enforcing the reality conditions. This comes as a surprise. In the continuum theory, the reality conditions are preserved in time, only if the torsionless condition (a secondary constraint)…
The present thesis is divided into two main research areas: Classical Cosmology and (Loop) Quantum Gravity. The first part concerns cosmological models with one phantom and one scalar field, that provide the `super-accelerated' scenario not excluded by observations, thus exploring alternatives to the standard LambdaCDM scenario. The second part concerns the spinfoam approach to (Loop) Quantum Gravity, which is an attempt to provide a `sum-over-histories' formulation of gravitational quantum transition amplitudes: the research here presented focuses on the face amplitude of a generic spinfoam m…
The path-integral approach to cosmology consists in the computation of transition amplitudes between states of the quantum geometry of the universe. In the past, the concrete computation of these transitions amplitudes has been performed in a perturbative regime, breaking the full general covariance of the theory. Here I present how it is possible to define a general covariant path integral in quantum cosmology, by relying on the most recent results of the canonical and covariant formulations of Loop Quantum Gravity. I present two strategies that have been implemented. The first starts from th…
I compute the Lorentzian EPRL/FK/KKL spinfoam vertex amplitude for regular graphs, with an arbitrary number of links and nodes, and coherent states peaked on a homogeneous and isotropic geometry. This form of the amplitude can be applied for example to a dipole with an arbitrary number of links or to the 4-simplex given by the compete graph on 5 nodes. All the resulting amplitudes have the same support, independently of the graph used, in the large j (large volume) limit. This implies that they all yield the Friedmann equation: I show this in the presence of the cosmological constant. This res…
We study the parity behavior of the Lorentzian EPRL spinfoam model. We demonstrate that the vertex amplitude does not depend on the sign of the Immirzi parameter. We present numerical results for the transition amplitude and the graviton propagator in the large-spin 4-simplex approximation. The results suggest a simple relation between the contributions of the two parity-related critical points. Finally, we observe that the graviton propagator is not invariant under parity-odd permutations of equivalent nodes. Thus, the Lorentzian model has the same chirality problem as the Euclidean.
We study expectation values of observables in three-dimensional spinfoam quantum gravity coupled to Dirac fermions. We revisit the model introduced by one of the authors and extend it to the case of massless fermionic fields. We introduce observables, analyse their symmetries and the corresponding proper gauge fixing. The Berezin integral over the fermionic fields is performed and the fermionic observables are expanded in open paths and closed loops associated to pure quantum gravity observables. We obtain the vertex amplitudes for gauge-invariant observables, while the expectation values of g…
We study the coupling of massive fermions to the quantum mechanical dynamics of spacetime emerging from the spinfoam approach in three dimensions. We first recall the classical theory before constructing a spinfoam model of quantum gravity coupled to spinors. The technique used is based on a finite expansion in inverse fermion masses leading to the computation of the vacuum to vacuum transition amplitude of the theory. The path integral is derived as a sum over closed fermionic loops wrapping around the spinfoam. The effects of quantum torsion are realised as a modification of the intertwining…
Starting from a Hamiltonian description of four dimensional general relativity in presence of a cosmological constant we perform the program of canonical quantisation. This is done using complex Ashtekar variables while keeping the Barbero--Immirzi parameter real. Introducing the SL(2,C) Kodama state formally solving all first class constraints we propose a spinfoam vertex amplitude. We construct SL(2,C) boundary spinnetwork functions coloured by finite dimensional representations of the group, and derive the skein relations needed to calculate the amplitude. The space of boundary states is sh…
Hessian in the spinfoam models with cosmological constant
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw（华沙大学物理学院）；Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Tsinghua University（清华大学丘成桐数学科学中心）；Department of Physics, Florida Atlantic University（佛罗里达大西洋大学物理系）
This paper presents an improvement to the four-dimensional spinfoam model with cosmological constant ($Λ$-SF model) in loop quantum gravity. The original $Λ$-SF model, defined via ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ Chern-Simons theory on graph-complement 3-manifolds, produces finite amplitudes and reproduces curved 4-simplex geometries in the semi-classical limit. However, extending the model to general simplicial complexes necessitated ad hoc, non-universal phase factors in face amplitudes, complicating systematic constructions. We resolve this issue by redefining the vertex amplitude using a novel set…
We reconsider the spinfoam dynamics that has been recently introduced, in the generalized Kaminski-Kisielowski-Lewandowski (KKL) version where the foam is not dual to a triangulation. We study the Euclidean as well as the Lorentzian case. We show that this theory can still be obtained as a constrained BF theory satisfying the simplicity constraint, now discretized on a general oriented 2-cell complex. This constraint implies that boundary states admit a (quantum) geometrical interpretation in terms of polyhedra, generalizing the tetrahedral geometry of the simplicial case. We also point out th…
We present a new perspective on early cosmology based on Loop Quantum Gravity. We use projected spinnetworks, coherent states and spinfoam techniques, to implement a quantum reduction of the full Kinematical Hilbert space of LQG, suitable to describe inhomogeneous cosmological models. Some preliminary results on the solutions of the Scalar constraint of the reduced theory are also presented.
A simple argument indicates that covariant loop gravity (spinfoam theory) predicts a maximal acceleration, and hence forbids the development of curvature singularities. This supports the results obtained for cosmology and black holes using canonical methods.
We introduce a new framework for loop quantum gravity: mimicking the spinfoam quantization procedure we propose to study the symmetric sectors of the theory imposing the reduction weakly on the full kinematical Hilbert space of the canonical theory. As a first application of Quantum-Reduced Loop Gravity we study the inhomogeneous Bianchi I model. The emerging quantum cosmological model represents a simplified arena on which the complete canonical quantization program can be tested. The achievements of this analysis could elucidate the relationship between Loop Quantum Cosmology and the full th…
In this work, we investigate the 4d path integral for Euclidean quantum gravity on a hypercubic lattice, as given by the Spin Foam model by Engle, Pereira, Rovelli, Livine, Freidel and Krasnov (EPRL-FK). To tackle the problem, we restrict to a set of quantum geometries that reflects the large amount of lattice symmetries. In particular, the sum over intertwiners is restricted to quantum cuboids, i.e. coherent intertwiners which describe a cuboidal geometry in the large-$j$ limit. Using asymptotic expressions for the vertex amplitude, we find several interesting properties of the state sum. Fir…
We extend the definition of the "flipped" loop-quantum-gravity vertex to the case of a finite Immirzi parameter. We cover the Euclidean as well as the Lorentzian case. We show that the resulting dynamics is defined on a Hilbert space isomorphic to the one of loop quantum gravity, and that the area operator has the same discrete spectrum as in loop quantum gravity. This includes the correct dependence on the Immirzi parameter, and, remarkably, holds in the Lorentzian case as well. The ad hoc flip of the symplectic structure that was initially required to derive the flipped vertex is not anymore…
We find all the spin-foams contributing in the first order of the vertex expansion to the transition amplitude of the Bianchi-Rovelli-Vidotto Dipole Cosmology model. Our algorithm is general and provides spin-foams of arbitrarily given, fixed: boundary and, respectively, a number of internal vertices. We use the recently introduced Operator Spin-Network Diagrams framework.
Spinfoam theories are hoped to provide the dynamics of non-perturbative loop quantum gravity. But a number of their features remain elusive. The best studied one -the euclidean Barrett-Crane model- does not have the boundary state space needed for this, and there are recent indications that, consequently, it may fail to yield the correct low-energy $n$-point functions. These difficulties can be traced to the SO(4) -> SU(2) gauge fixing and the way certain second class constraints are imposed, arguably incorrectly, strongly. We present an alternative model, that can be derived as a bona fide qu…
We study the graviton propagator in euclidean loop quantum gravity, using the spinfoam formalism. We use boundary-amplitude and group-field-theory techniques, and compute one component of the propagator to first order, under a number of approximations, obtaining the correct spacetime dependence. In the large distance limit, the only term of the vertex amplitude that contributes is the exponential of the Regge action: the other terms, that have raised doubts on the physical viability of the model, are suppressed by the phase of the vacuum state, which is determined by the extrinsic geometry of …
Assignment of consistent quantum probabilities to events in a quantum universe is a fundamental challenge which every quantum cosmology/gravity framework must overcome. In loop quantum cosmology, this issue leads to a fundamental question: What is the probability that the universe undergoes a non-singular bounce? Using the consistent histories formulation, this question was successfully answered recently by the authors for a spatially flat FRW model in the canonical approach. In this manuscript, we obtain a covariant generalization of this result. Our analysis is based on expressing loop quant…
We discuss the path-integral formulation of quantum cosmology with a massless scalar field as a sum-over-histories, with particular reference to loop quantum cosmology. Exploiting the analogy with the relativistic particle, we give a complete overview of the possible two-point functions, deriving vertex expansions and composition laws they satisfy. We clarify the tie between definitions using a group averaging procedure and those in a deparametrised framework. We draw some conclusions about the physics of a single quantum universe and multiverse field theories where the role of these sectors a…
The quantization of gravity offers a solution to the presence of singularities in cosmology. Infinities are removed because of the existence of finite quanta of spacetime. This is one of the most important prediction of Loop Quantum Gravity. But treating gravity on the same footing as the other quantum field theories introduces a different kind of infinities: the ones from the renormalization procedure. In the covariant formulation of Loop Quantum Gravity (Spinfoam) this kind of infinities are tamed by the presence of the cosmological constant. These two results are guided by a specific perspe…
Loop quantum cosmology (LQC) is used to provide concrete evidence in support of the general paradigm underlying spin foam models (SFMs). Specifically, it is shown that: i) the physical inner product in the timeless framework equals the transition amplitude in the deparameterized theory; ii) this quantity admits a %convergent vertex expansion a la SFMs in which the $M$-th term refers just to $M$ volume transitions, without any reference to the time at which the transition takes place; iii) the exact physical inner product is obtained by summing over just the discrete geometries; no `continuum l…
The path-integral formulation of quantum cosmology with a massless scalar field as a sum-over-histories of volume transitions is discussed, with particular but non-exclusive reference to loop quantum cosmology. Exploiting the analogy with the relativistic particle, we give a complete overview of the possible two-point functions, pointing out the choices involved in their definitions, deriving their vertex expansions and the composition laws they satisfy. We clarify the origin and relations of different quantities previously defined in the literature, in particular the tie between definitions u…
Unimodular gravity is based on a modification of the usual Einstein-Hilbert action that allows one to recover general relativity with a dynamical cosmological constant. It also has the interesting property of providing, as the momentum conjugate to the cosmological constant, an emergent clock variable. In this paper we investigate the cosmological reduction of unimodular gravity, and its quantization within the framework of flat homogeneous and isotropic loop quantum cosmology. It is shown that the unimodular clock can be used to construct the physical state space, and that the fundamental fea…
We discuss the expansions used in spin foam cosmology. We point out that already at the one vertex level arbitrarily complicated amplitudes contribute, and discuss the geometric asymptotics of the five simplest ones. We discuss what type of consistency conditions would be required to control the expansion. We show that the factorisation of the amplitude originally considered is best interpreted in topological terms. We then consider the next higher term in the graph expansion. We demonstrate the tension between the truncation to small graphs and going to the homogeneous sector, and conclude th…
We explore the structure of the spin foam-like vertex expansion in loop quantum cosmology and discuss properties of the corresponding amplitudes, with the aim of elucidating some of the expansion's useful properties and features. We find that the expansion is best suited for consideration of conceptual questions and for investigating short-time, highly quantum behavior. In order to study dynamics at cosmological scales, the expansion must be carried to very high order, limiting its direct utility as a calculational tool for such questions. Conversely, it is unclear that the expansion can be tr…
Global variables and dynamics of emergent cosmology in loop gravity
University of the Basque Country EHU（巴斯克大学）；Universidad Complutense de Madrid（马德里康普顿斯大学）；Universidad Autónoma de Madrid（马德里自治大学）；Instituto de Química Física Blas Cabrera (IQF), CSIC（Blas Cabrera物理化学研究所（IQF），西班牙国家研究委员会）
We study a family of physical observable quantities in quantum gravity. We denote them W functions, or n-net functions. They represent transition amplitudes between quantum states of the geometry, are analogous to the n-point functions in quantum field theory, but depend on spin networks with n connected components. In particular, they include the three-geometry to three-geometry transition amplitude. The W functions are scalar under four-dimensional diffeomorphism, and fully gauge invariant. They capture the physical content of the quantum gravitational theory. We show that W functions are th…
We use the recently introduced U(N) framework for loop quantum gravity to study the dynamics of spin network states on the simplest class of graphs: two vertices linked with an arbitrary number N of edges. Such graphs represent two regions, in and out, separated by a boundary surface. We study the algebraic structure of the Hilbert space of spin networks from the U(N) perspective. In particular, we describe the algebra of operators acting on that space and discuss their relation to the standard holonomy operator of loop quantum gravity. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to make the rest…
The study of toy models in loop quantum gravity (LQG), defined as truncations of the full theory, is relevant to both the development of the LQG phenomenology, in cosmology and astrophysics, and the progress towards the resolution of the open issues of the theory, in particular the implementation of the dynamics. Here, we study the dynamics of spin network states of quantum geometry defined on the family of graphs consisting in 2 vertices linked by an arbitrary number of edges, or 2-vertex model in short. A symmetry reduced sector of this model -- to isotropic and homogeneous geometries -- was…
Spin Foam and Loop approaches to Quantum Gravity reformulate Einstein's theory of relativity in terms of connection variables. The metric properties are encoded in face bivectors/conjugate fluxes that are required to satisfy certain conditions, in order to allow for their geometric interpretation. We show that the (sub-)set of the so-called `volume simplicity constraints' is not implemented properly in the current EPRL-FK spinfoam vertex amplitude, if extended to arbitrary polyhedra. We then propose that a certain knot-invariant of the bivector geometry, induced on the boundary graph, encodes …
To understand the dynamics of loop quantum gravity, the deparametrized model of gravity coupled to a scalar field is studied in a simple case, where the graph underlying the spin network basis is one loop based at a single vertex. The Hamiltonian operator $\hat{H}_v$ is chosen to be graph-preserving, and the matrix elements of $\hat{H}_v$ are explicitly worked out in a suitable basis. The non-trivial Euclidean part $\hat{H}_v^E$ of $\hat{H}_v$ is studied in details. It turns out that by choosing a specific symmetrization of $\hat{H}_v^E$, the dynamics driven by the Hamiltonian gives a picture …
