17797254
HAMILTONIAN ANALYSIS OF n-DIMENSIONAL PALATINI GRAVITY WITH MATTER
We consider the Palatini formalism of gravity with cosmological constant Λ coupled to a scalar field ϕ in n dimensions. The n-dimensional Einstein equations with Λ can be derived by the variation of the coupled Palatini action provided n>2. The Hamiltonian analysis of the coupled action is carried out by a 1+(n-1) decomposition of the spacetime. It turns out that both Palatini action and Hilbert action lead to the same geometric dynamics in the presence of Λ and ϕ while the n-dimensional Palatini action could not give a dynamical formalism of connection directly.
5145645
Quantum dyanmics of loop quantum gravity
In the last 20 years, loop quantum gravity, a background independent approach to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, has been widely investigated. The aim of loop quantum gravity is to construct a mathematically rigorous, background independent, nonperturbative quantum theory for the Lorentzian gravitational field on a four-dimensional manifold. In this approach, the principles of quantum mechanics are combined with those of general relativity naturally. Such a combination provides us a picture of "quantum Riemannian geometry", which is discrete at a fundamental scale. In the investigation of quantum dynamics, the classical expressions of constraints are quantized as operators. The quantum evolution is contained in the solutions of the quantum constraint equations. On the other hand, the semi-classical analysis has to be carried out in order to test the semiclassical limit of the quantum dynamics. 
In this thesis, the structure of the dynamical theory in loop quantum gravity is presented pedagogically. The outline is as follows: first we review the classical formalism of general relativity as a dynamical theory of connections. Then the kinematical Ashtekar-Isham-Lewandowski representation is introduced as a foundation of loop quantum gravity. We discuss the construction of a Hamiltonian constraint operator and the master constraint programme, for both the cases of pure gravity and matter field coupling. Finally, some strategies are discussed concerning testing the semiclassical limit of the quantum dynamics.
119628044
On the Asymptotics of Quantum Group Spinfoam Model
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 al to quantum group spinfoam. As a preparation of asymptotic analysis, we define and analyze the coherent states and coherent intertwiners for quantum group, which has certain "factorization properties". We show that in the high spin limit of quantum group spinfoam, many q-deformed noncommutative ingredients become classical and commutative. In particular, the squared norm of coherent intertwiner and the (Euclidean) vertex amplitude become integrals on classical group, while there are some additional terms (written in terms of classical group variables) make quantum group corrections to the usual (classical group) coherent intertwiner and vertex amplitude. These quantum group correction terms turn out to be proportional to the deformation parameter, which hopefully gives the cosmological term as its semiclassical limit.
118545643
Canonical path-integral measures for Holst and Plebanski gravity: II. Gauge invariance and physical inner product
This paper serves as a continuation for the discussion in Engle et al (2010, Class. Quantum Grav. 27 245014). We analyze the invariance properties of the gravity path-integral measure derived from canonical framework and discuss which path-integral formula may be employed in the concrete computation e.g. constructing a spin-foam model, so that the final model can be interpreted as a physical inner product in the canonical theory. This paper is divided into two parts, the first part is concerning the gauge invariance of the canonical path-integral measure for gravity from the reduced phase space quantization. We show that the path-integral measure is invariant under all the gauge transformations generated by all the constraints. These gauge transformations are the local symmetries of the gravity action, which is implemented without anomaly at the quantum level by the invariant path-integral measure. However, these gauge transformations coincide with the spacetime diffeomorphisms only when the equations of motion are imposed. But the path-integral measure is not invariant under spacetime diffeomorphisms, i.e. the local symmetry of spacetime diffeomorphisms become anomalous in the reduced phase space path-integral quantization. In the second part, we present a path-integral formula, which formally solves all the quantum constraint equations of gravity, and further results in a rigging map in the sense of refined algebraic quantization (RAQ). Then we give a formal path-integral expression of the physical inner product in loop quantum gravity (LQG). This path-integral expression is simpler than the one from reduced phase space quantization, since all the gauge-fixing conditions are removed except the time gauge. The resulting path-integral measure is different from the product Lebesgue measure up to a local measure factor containing both the spacetime volume element and the spatial volume element. This formal path-integral expression of the physical inner product can be a starting point for constructing a spin-foam model.
118608710
Spinfoam fermions
A serious shortcoming of spinfoam loop gravity is the absence of matter. See for instance [1, 2] and full references therein. Here we study a minimal coupling of the theory with a chiral fermion field and a Yang-Mills field. We find that the dynamical coupling of a fermion to quantum gravity is surprisingly simple in the spinfoam formalism. This result resonate with similar ones in early canonical loop theory [3, 4]: the naive fermion hamiltonian was found to be just the extension of the simple “shift” form [5] of the gravitational hamiltonian, to the open ends of the gravitational Faraday lines, which represent fermions. Here we find that in the spinfoams context the fermion dynamics is a natural extension of the gravitational amplitude to spin-networks with spin1 2 open-ends at the nodes. In the presence of fermions, it is then easy to add YangMills fields by promoting a global symmetry to a local symmetry. The dynamics can then be generated à la Zeld’hovic [6, 7] from fermion loops. For earlier studies on how to couple fermions to a discretized gravitational field, see [8–11]. For detailed studies of fermions in the loop quantum gravity canonical formalism, see [12–15]. On fermions in 3d, spinfoams and quantum cosmology and the effect of fermions on Holst gravity, see also [16–20].
118178605
SL(2,C) Chern–Simons theory, a non-planar graph operator, and 4D quantum gravity with a cosmological constant: Semiclassical geometry
Abstract We study the expectation value of a nonplanar Wilson graph operator in SL ( 2 , C ) Chern–Simons theory on S 3 . In particular we analyze its asymptotic behavior in the double-scaling limit in which both the representation labels and the Chern–Simons coupling are taken to be large, but with fixed ratio. When the Wilson graph operator has a specific form, motivated by loop quantum gravity, the critical point equations obtained in this double-scaling limit describe a very specific class of flat connection on the graph complement manifold. We find that flat connections in this class are in correspondence with the geometries of constant curvature 4-simplices. The result is fully non-perturbative from the perspective of the reconstructed geometry. We also show that the asymptotic behavior of the amplitude contains, at the leading order, an oscillatory part proportional to the Regge action for the single 4-simplex in the presence of a cosmological constant. In particular, the cosmological term contains the full-fledged curved volume of the 4-simplex. Interestingly, the volume term stems from the asymptotics of the Chern–Simons action. This can be understood as arising from the relation between Chern–Simons theory on the boundary of a region, and a theory defined by an F 2 action in the bulk. Another peculiarity of our approach is that the sign of the curvature of the reconstructed geometry, and hence of the cosmological constant in the Regge action, is not fixed a priori, but rather emerges semiclassically and dynamically from the solution of the equations of motion. In other words, this work suggests a relation between 4-dimensional loop quantum gravity with a cosmological constant and SL ( 2 , C ) Chern–Simons theory in 3 dimensions with knotted graph defects.
119951520
On a difficulty in formulating relativistic partonlike equations
18477566
Computational lattice-gas modeling of the electrosorption of small molecules and ions
Abstract We present two recent applications of lattice-gas modeling techniques to electrochemical adsorption on catalytically active metal substrates: urea on Pt(100) and (bi)sulfate on Rh(111). Both systems involve the specific adsorption of small molecules or ions on single-crystal electrodes, and they are characterized by a particularly good fit between the adsorbate geometry and the substrate structure. The close geometric fit facilitates the formation of ordered submonolayer adsorbate phases in a range of electrode potential positive of the range in which an adsorbed monolayer of hydrogen is stable. In both systems the ordered-phase region is separated from the adsorbed-hydrogen region by a phase transition, signalled in cyclic voltammograms by a sharp current peak. Based on data from in situ radiochemical surface concentration measurements, cyclic voltammetry, and scanning tunneling microscopy, and ex situ Auger electron spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction, we have developed specific lattice-gas models for the two systems. These models were studied by group-theoretical ground-state calculations and numerical Monte Carlo simulations, and effective lattice-gas interaction parameters were determined so as to provide agreement with the experimental results.
120362684
TWO-COMPONENT POINCARE-INVARIANT EQUATIONS FOR MASSIVE CHARGED LEPTONS.
119565132
Gauge problem in quantum field theory
123307684
Hadronic regge sequences as primitive realizations of SL(3,R) symmetry☆
Abstract Four primitive infinite dimensional unitary representations of the group of rotations and deformations - SL(3,R) - are constructed and associated with the four Regge trajectories: π, ϱ, N, Δ. The model predicts E2 transition moments and a power law for E versus j consistent with the Chew-Frautschi relation E∼j 1 2 .