Spin foams are models of quantum gravity and therefore quantum space time. A key open issue is to determine the possible continuum phases of these models. Progress on this issue has been prohibited by the complexity of the full four--dimensional models. We consider here simplified analogue models, so called spin nets, that retain the main dynamical ingredient of spin foams, the simplicity constraints. For a certain class of these spin net models we determine the phase diagram and therefore the continuum phases via a coarse graining procedure based on tensor network renormalization. This procedure will also reveal an unexpected fixed point, which turns out to define a new triangulation invariant vertex model.
Simplicity constraints play a crucial role in the construction of spin foam models, yet their effective behaviour on larger scales is scarcely explored. In this article we introduce intertwiner and spin net models for the quantum group $\text{SU}(2)_k \times \text{SU}(2)_k$, which implement the simplicity constraints analogous to 4D Euclidean spin foam models, namely the Barrett-Crane (BC) and the Engle-Pereira-Rovelli-Livine/Freidel-Krasnov (EPRL/FK) model. These models are numerically coarse grained via tensor network renormalization, allowing us to trace the flow of simplicity constraints t…
We argue that refining, coarse graining and entangling operators can be obtained from time evolution operators. This applies in particular to geometric theories, such as spin foams. We point out that this provides a construction principle for the physical vacuum in quantum gravity theories and more generally allows to construct a (cylindrically) consistent continuum limit of the theory.
Discretizations of continuum theories often do not preserve the gauge symmetry content. This occurs in particular for diffeomorphism symmetry in general relativity, which leads to severe difficulties both in canonical and covariant quantization approaches. We discuss here the method of perfect actions, which attempts to restore gauge symmetries by mirroring exactly continuum physics on a lattice via a coarse graining process. Analytical results can only be obtained via a perturbative approach, for which we consider the first steps, namely the coarse graining of the linearized theory. The linea…
Three ideas are introduced that when brought together characterize the realistic quasiclassical realms of our quantum universe as particular kinds of sets of alternative coarse-grained histories defined by quasiclassical variables: (1) Branch dependent adaptive coarse grainings that can be close to maximally refined and can simplify calculation. (2) Narrative coarse grainings that describe how features of the universe change over time and allow the construction of an environment. (3) A notion of strong decoherence that characterizes realistic mechanisms of decoherence.
In loop quantum gravity, partitioning graph introduces boundaries and entanglement between spin sub-networks, reflecting non-local degrees of freedom and correlation amongst spatial regions. This gives rise to the view of coarse-graining, reducing the degrees of freedom that are unnecessary to be considered. The present work sets coarse-graining in the framework of bulk-boundary relation. We investigates the spin network entanglement, showing that the entanglement is invariant under the coarse-graining at kinematical level. Moreover, we build the transformation between holonomy operators based…
We take up the question why the initial entropy in the universe was small, in the context of evolution of the entropy of a classical system. We note that coarse-graining is a an important aspect of entropy evaluation which can reverse the direction of the increase in entropy, i.e., the direction of thermodynamic arrow of time. Then we investigate the role of decoherence in the selection of coarse-graining and explain how to compute entropy for a decohered classical system. Finally, we argue that the requirement of low initial entropy imposes constraints on the decoherence process.
A dual holonomy version of operator spin foam models is presented, which is particularly adapted to the notion of coarse graining. We discuss how this leads to a natural way of comparing models on different discretization scales, and a notion of renormalization group flow on the partially ordered set of 2-complexes.
We address aspects of coarse-graining in classical Statistical Physics from the viewpoint of the symplectic non-squeezing theorem. We make some comments regarding the implications of the symplectic non-squeezing theorem for the BBGKY hierarchy. We also see the cubic cells appearing in coarse-graining as a direct consequence of the uniqueness of Hofer's metric on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of the phase space.
We propose that Kreimer's method of Feynman diagram renormalization via a Hopf algebra of rooted trees can be fruitfully employed in the analysis of block spin renormalization or coarse graining of inhomogeneous statistical systems. Examples of such systems include spin foam formulations of non-perturbative quantum gravity as well as lattice gauge and spin systems on irregular lattices and/or with spatially varying couplings. We study three examples which are Z_2 lattice gauge theory on irregular 2-dimensional lattices, Ising/Potts models with varying bond strengths and (1+1)-dimensional spin …
The nature of coarse graining is intuitively "obvious", but it is rather difficult to find explicit and calculable models of the coarse graining process (and the resulting entropy flow) discussed in the literature. What we would like to have at hand is some explicit and calculable process that takes an arbitrary system, with specified initial entropy S, and monotonically and controllably drives the entropy to its maximum value. This does not have to be a physical process, in fact for some purposes it is better to deal with a gedanken-process, since then it is more obvious how the "hidden infor…
A first step towards implementing a notion of coarse graining in an intrinsically Lorentzian, discrete quantum- gravity approach, namely causal set quantum gravity is taken. It makes use of an abstract notion of scale, based on counting the number of discrete elements. To that end, the space of actions for causal set quantum gravity is written in a matrix-model-like language, and a flow equation for the effective action of the model is derived from the path integral.
We present a new approach to coarse-graining of variables describing dust flow in GR. It is based on assigning quasi-local shear, twist and expansion to 2-dimensional surfaces with the help of isometric embeddings into the 3-dimensional Euclidean space and deriving the time evolution equations for them. In contrast to the popular Buchert's scheme it allows to coarse-grain tensorial quantities in a coordinate-independent way. The framework can be used to estimate backreaction in inhomogeneous cosmological models.
A new procedure for coarse-graining dynamical triangulations is presented. The procedure provides a meaning for the relevant value of observables when "probing at large scales", e.g. the average scalar curvature. The scheme may also be useful as a starting point for a new type of renormalisation procedure, suitable for dynamically triangulated quantum gravity. Random Delaunay triangulations have previously been used to produce discretisations of continuous Euclidean manifolds, and the coarse-graining scheme is an extension of this idea, using random simplicial complexes produced from a dynamic…
After a brief review of spin networks and their interpretation as wave functions for the (space) geometry, we discuss the renormalisation of the area operator in loop quantum gravity. In such a background independent framework, we propose to probe the structure of a surface through the analysis of the coarse-graining and renormalisation flow(s) of its area. We further introduce a procedure to coarse-grain spin network states and we quantitatively study the decrease in the number of degrees of freedom during this process. Finally, we use these coarse-graining tools to define the correlation and…
The continuum limit of loop quantum gravity is still an open problem. Indeed, no proper dynamics in known to start with and we still lack the mathematical tools to study its would-be continuum limit. In the present PhD dissertation, we will investigate some coarse-graining methods that should become helpful in this enterprise. We concentrate on two aspects of the theory's coarse-graining: finding natural large scale observables on one hand and studying how the dynamics of varying graphs could be cast onto fixed graphs on the other hand. To determine large scale observables, we study the case o…
A coarse graining operation of spatially homogeneous quantum states based on an SU(1,1) Lie group structure has recently been proposed in [1] and used in [2] to compute an explicit renormalisation group flow in the context of loop quantum cosmology. In this note, we explain the group theoretical origin of this procedure and generalise previous results based on these insights. We also highlight how the group theoretical origin of these techniques implies their immediate generalisation to other Lie groups.
We propose a new holonomy formulation for spin foams, which naturally extends the theory space of lattice gauge theories. This allows current spin foam models to be defined on arbitrary two-complexes as well as to generalize current spin foam models to arbitrary, in particular finite groups. The similarity with standard lattice gauge theories allows to apply standard coarse graining methods, which for finite groups can now be easily considered numerically. We will summarize other holonomy and spin network formulations of spin foams and group field theories and explain how the different represe…
Starting from the basic path integral in phase space we reconsider the functional approach to the RG flow of the one particle irreducible effective average action. On employing a balanced coarse-graining procedure for the canonical variables we obtain a functional integral with a non trivial measure which leads to a modified flow equation. We first address quantum mechanics for boson and fermion degrees of freedom and we then extend the construction to quantum field theories. For this modified flow equation we discuss the reconstruction of the bare action and the implications on the computatio…
So-called "Buchert averaging" is actually a coarse-graining procedure, where fine detail is "smeared out" due to limited spatio-temporal resolution. For technical reasons, (to be explained herein), "averaging" is not really an appropriate term, and I shall consistently describe the process as a "coarse-graining". Because Einstein gravity is nonlinear the coarse-grained Einstein tensor is typically not equal to the Einstein tensor of the coarse-grained spacetime geometry. The discrepancy can be viewed as an "effective" stress-energy. To keep otherwise messy technical issues firmly under control…
Our everyday descriptions of the universe are highly coarse-grained, following only a tiny fraction of the variables necessary for a perfectly fine-grained description. Coarse graining in classical physics is made natural by our limited powers of observation and computation. But in the modern quantum mechanics of closed systems, some measure of coarse graining is inescapable because there are no non-trivial, probabilistic, fine-grained descriptions. This essay explores the consequences of that fact. Quantum theory allows for various coarse-grained descriptions some of which are mutually incomp…
In this paper we are interested in the studying coarse-graining in field theories using the language of quantum open systems. Motivated by the ideas of Calzetta and Hu on correlation histories we employ the Zwanzig projection technique to obtain evolution equations for relevant observables in self-interacting scalar field theories. Our coarse-graining operation consists in concentrating solely on the evolution of the correlation functions of degree less than $n$, a treatment which corresponds to the familiar from statistical mechanics truncation of the BBKGY hierarchy at the n-th level. We der…
We argue that the entanglement entropy offers us a useful coarse-grained entropy in time-dependent AdS/CFT. We show that the total von-Neumann entropy remains vanishing even when a black hole is created in a gravity dual, being consistent with the fact that its corresponding CFT is described by a time-dependent pure state. We analytically calculate the time evolution of entanglement entropy for a free Dirac fermion on a circle following a quantum quench. This is interpreted as a toy holographic dual of black hole creations and annihilations. It is manifestly free from the black hole informatio…
Motivated by the understanding of holography as realized in tensor networks, we develop a bulk procedure that can be interpreted as generating a sequence of coarse-grained holographic states. The coarse-graining procedure involves identifying degrees of freedom entangled at short distances and disentangling them. This is manifested in the bulk by a flow equation that generates a codimension-1 object, which we refer to as the holographic slice. We generalize the earlier classical construction to include bulk quantum corrections, which naturally involves the generalized entropy as a measure of t…
We discuss the relation between coarse-graining and the holographic principle in the framework of loop quantum gravity and ask the following question: when we coarse-grain arbitrary spin network states of quantum geometry, are we integrating out physical degrees of freedom or gauge degrees of freedom? Focusing on how bulk spin network states for bounded regions of space are projected onto boundary states, we show that all possible boundary states can be recovered from bulk spin networks with a single vertex in the bulk and a single internal loop attached to it. This partial reconstruction of t…
The Ponzano-Regge state-sum model provides a quantization of 3d gravity as a spin foam, providing a quantum amplitude to each 3d triangulation defined in terms of the 6j-symbol (from the spin-recoupling theory of SU(2) representations). In this context, the invariance of the 6j-symbol under 4-1 Pachner moves, mathematically defined by the Biedenharn-Elliot identity, can be understood as the invariance of the Ponzano-Regge model under coarse-graining or equivalently as the invariance of the amplitudes under the Hamiltonian constraints. Here we look at length and volume insertions in the Biedenh…
We formulate the problem of finding the low-energy limit of spin foam models as a coarse-graining problem in the sense of statistical physics. This suggests that renormalization group methods may be used to find that limit. However, since spin foams are models of spacetime at Planck scale, novel issues arise: these microscopic models are sums over irregular, background-independent lattices. We show that all of these issues can be addressed by the recent application of the Kreimer Hopf algebra for quantum field theory renormalization to non-perturbative statistical physics. The main difference …
We examine the Boltzmann/Gibbs/Shannon $\mathcal{S}_{BGS}$ and the non-additive Havrda-Charvát / Daróczy/Cressie-Read/Tsallis \ $\mathcal{S}_q$ \ and the Kaniadakis $κ$-entropy \ $\mathcal{S}_κ$ \ from the viewpoint of coarse-graining, symplectic capacities and convexity. We argue that the functional form of such entropies can be ascribed to a discordance in phase-space coarse-graining between two generally different approaches: the Euclidean/Riemannian metric one that reflects independence and picks cubes as the fundamental cells and the symplectic/canonical one that picks spheres/ellipsoids …
