MPS-RR 2000-9
March 2000

A non-perturbative Lorentzian path integral for gravity

Jan Ambjørn

J. Jurkiewicz, R. Loll

Abstract

A well-defined regularized path integral for Lorentzian quantum gravity in three and four dimensions is constructed, given in terms of a sum over dynamically triangulated causal space-times. Each Lorentzian geometry and its associated action have a unique Wick rotation to the Euclidean sector. All space-time histories possess a distinguished notion of a discrete proper time and, for finite lattice volume, the associated transfer matrix is self-adjoint, bounded and strictly positive. The degenerate geometric phases found previously in dynamically triangulated Euclidean gravity are not present. The phase structure of the new Lorentzian quantum gravity model can be readily investigated by both analytic and numerical methods.

Availability: [ gzipped ps-file ] [ pdf-file ]

[ Help on down-loading/viewing/printing ]