Quantum gravity and the algebra of tangles

DOI10.1088/0264-9381/10/4/006MaRDI QIDQ4032968zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors John Baez

Publication date 23 May 1993

Published in Classical and Quantum Gravity (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9205007

zbMATH Keywords

Jones polynomialKauffman brackettangle algebralink invariants\(*\)-algebra structure of the algebra of observablesempty linkinner products on quotientsloop representation of quantum gravity in \(3+1\) dimensionsSU(2) Chern-Simons theory

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Applications of functional analysis in quantum physics (46N50) Infinite-dimensional groups and algebras motivated by physics, including Virasoro, Kac-Moody, (W)-algebras and other current algebras and their representations (81R10) Methods of quantum field theory in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C47)

Abstract: In Rovelli and Smolin's loop representation of nonperturbative quantum gravity in 4 dimensions, there is a space of solutions to the Hamiltonian constraint having as a basis isotopy classes of links in R^3. The physically correct inner product on this space of states is not yet known, or in other words, the *-algebra structure of the algebra of observables has not been determined. In order to approach this problem, we consider a larger space H of solutions of the Hamiltonian constraint, which has as a basis isotopy classes of tangles. A certain algebra T, the ``tangle algebra, acts as operators on H. The ``empty state, corresponding to the class of the empty tangle, is conjectured to be a cyclic vector for T. We construct simpler representations of T as quotients of H by the skein relations for the HOMFLY polynomial, and calculate a *-algebra structure for T using these representations. We use this to determine the inner product of certain states of quantum gravity associated to the Jones polynomial (or more precisely, Kauffman bracket).

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Cited in

(7)

• The physical Hamiltonian in nonperturbative quantum gravity
• Linking topological quantum field theory and nonperturbative quantum gravity
• Resonant algebras and gravity
• Cauchy slice holography: a new AdS/CFT dictionary
• Symmetry and entropy of black hole horizons
• REIDEMEISTER TORSION AND SIMPLICIAL QUANTUM GRAVITY
• Use of quantum algebras in quantum gravity

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