We introduce a new family of coherent states for loop quantum gravity, inspired by the twisted geometry parametrization. We compute their peakedness properties and compare them with the heat-kernel coherent states. They show similar features for the area and the holonomy operators, but improved peakedness in the direction of the flux. At the gauge-invariant level, the new family is built from tensor products of coherent intertwiners. To study the peakedness of the holonomy operator, we introduce a new shift operator based on the harmonic oscillator representation associated with the twisted geometry parametrization. The new shift operator captures the components of the holonomy relevant to disentangle its action into a simple positive shift of the spins.

Twisted Geometries Coherent States for Loop Quantum Gravity

We argue that a conformally invariant extension of general relativity coupled to the standard model is the fundamental theory that needs to be quantized. We show that it can be treated by loop quantum gravity techniques. Through a gauge fixing and a modified Higgs mechanism particles acquire mass and one recovers general relativity coupled to the standard model. The theory suggests new views with respect to the definition of the Hamiltonian constraint in loop quantum gravity, the semi-classical limit and the issue of finite renormalization in quantum field theory in quantum space-time. It also gives hints about the elimination of ambiguities that arise in quantum field theory in quantum space-time in the calculation of back-reaction.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6382/aa5326/pdf

Conformal loop quantum gravity coupled to the standard model

In canonical quantum gravity, the presence of spatial boundaries naturally leads to a boundary quantum states, representing quantum boundary conditions for the bulk fields. As a consequence, quantum states of the bulk geometry needs to be upgraded to wave-functions valued in the boundary Hilbert space: the bulk become quantum operator acting on boundary states. We apply this to loop quantum gravity and describe spin networks with 2d boundary as wave-functions mapping bulk holonomies to spin states on the boundary. This sets the bulk-boundary relation in a clear mathematical framework, which allows to define the boundary density matrix induced by a bulk spin network states after tracing out the bulk degrees of freedom. We ask the question of the bulk reconstruction and prove a boundary-to-bulk universal reconstruction procedure, to be understood as a purification of the mixed boundary state into a pure bulk state. We further perform a first investigation in the algebraic structure of induced boundary density matrices and show how correlations between bulk excitations, i.e. quanta of 3d geometry, get reflected into the boundary density matrix.

Loop quantum gravity’s boundary maps

We present the construction of a new family of coherent states for quantum theories of connections obtained following the polymer quantization. The realization of these coherent states is based on the notion of graph change, in particular the one induced by the quantum dynamics in Yang-Mills and gravity quantum theories. Using a Fock-like canonical structure that we introduce, we derive the new coherent states that we call the graph coherent states. These states take the form of an infinite superposition of basis network states with different graphs. We further discuss the properties of such states and certain extensions of the proposed construction.

Polymer quantization of connection theories: Graph coherent states

We present a new method for constructing operators in loop quantum gravity. The construction is an application of the general idea of "coherent state quantization", which allows one to associate a unique quantum operator to every function on a classical phase space. Using the heat kernel coherent states of Hall and Thiemann, we show how to construct operators corresponding to functions depending on holonomies and fluxes associated to a fixed graph. We construct the coherent state versions of the fundamental holonomy and flux operators, as well as the basic geometric operators of area, angle and volume. Our calculations show that the corresponding canonical operators are recovered from the coherent state operators in the limit of large spins.

Jan Sikorski

Papers

Coherent State Operators in Loop Quantum Gravity