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A lattice approach to spinorial quantum gravity

P Renteln and L Smolin

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The authors present a new lattice regularisation of quantum general relativity based on Ashtekar's reformulation (1986) of Hamiltonian general relativity. In this form, quantum states of the gravitational field are represented within the physical Hilbert space of a Kogut-Susskind lattice gauge theory. The gauge field of the theory is a complexified SU(2) connection which is the gravitational connection for left-handed spinor fields. The physical states of the gravitational field are those which are annihilated by additional constraints which correspond to the four constraints of general relativity. The authors construct lattice versions of these constraints. Those corresponding to the three-dimensional diffeomorphism generators move states associated with Wilson loops around on the lattice. The lattice Hamiltonian constraint has a simple form, and a correspondingly simple interpretation: it is an operator which cuts and joins Wilson loops at points of intersection.


PACS

04.60.Nc Lattice and discrete methods

04.60.Pp Loop quantum gravity, quantum geometry, spin foams

04.60.Ds Canonical quantization

11.15.Ha Lattice gauge theory

11.30.Ly Other internal and higher symmetries

MSC

81T13 Yang-Mills and other gauge theories (See also 53C07, 58E15)

83C27 Lattice gravity, Regge calculus and other discrete methods

81T27 Continuum limits

83C45 Quantization of the gravitational field

Subjects

Gravitation and cosmology

Particle physics and field theory

Dates

Issue 3 (March 1989)



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