SL(2,C) Chern-Simons theory, flat connections, and four-dimensional quantum geometry

DOI10.4310/ATMP.2019.V23.N4.A3MaRDI QIDQ2665898zbMATH OpenWikidataFDO

Authors Hal M. Haggard, Muxin Han, Wojciech Kamiński, Aldo Riello

Publication date 19 November 2021

Published in Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.07690

zbMATH Keywords

Chern-Simons theoryfour-dimensional quantum gravityquantizationWilson graph operator

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Symplectic manifolds (general theory) (53D05) Topological quantum field theories (aspects of differential topology) (57R56) Eta-invariants, Chern-Simons invariants (58J28) Geometry and quantization, symplectic methods (81S10) Topological field theories in quantum mechanics (81T45) Gravitational interaction in quantum theory (81V17) Quantization of the gravitational field (83C45)

Abstract: A correspondence between three-dimensional flat connections and constant curvature four-dimensional simplices is used to give a novel quantization of geometry via complex SL(2,C) Chern-Simons theory. The resulting quantum geometrical states are hence represented by the 3d blocks of analytically continued Chern-Simons theory. In the semiclassical limit of this quantization the three-dimensional Chern-Simons action, remarkably, becomes the discrete Einstein-Hilbert action of a 4-simplex, featuring the appropriate boundary terms as well as the essential cosmological term proportional to the simplex's curved 4-volume. Both signs of the curvature and associated cosmological constant are present in the class of flat connections that give rise to this correspondence. We provide a Wilson graph operator that picks out this class of connections. We discuss how to promote these results to a model of Lorentzian covariant quantum gravity encompassing both signs of the cosmological constant. This paper presents the details for the results reported in reference [1] (arXiv:1509.00458).

Review text

The work mainly focuses on Chern-Simons theory and its relation to 4d dimensional quantum gravity with a cosmological constant. A correspondence is established between a class of $SL(2,C)$ flat connections on $M_3 = S^3/\Gamma^5$ and homogeneously-curved 4d simplicial geometries. Since a natural way of quantizing flat connections on $M_3$ exists and is given by the Chern-Simons theory, such a correspondence provides a natural way to quantize 4d simplicial geometry. The complex Chern-Simons theory on the $\Gamma^5$ graph complement 3-manifold $M_3$ with certain boundary conditions is studied. These precise boundary conditions can be imposed by introducing a specific Wilson graph operator supported on $\Gamma^5$ within the complex Chern Simons theory. The relationship between $SL(2,C)$ Chern-Simons theory and Loop quantum gravity on 4d is given and this correspondence is generalized from a single 4-simplex to a 4d simplicial complex. A particular class of Chern-Simons 3d block is defined and the asymptotics of this block gives the 4d Regge action on a full simplicial complex.

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