Abstract
In this paper we discuss a proposal of coherent states for loop quantum gravity. These states are labeled by a point in the phase space of general relativity as captured by a spin-network graph. They are defined as the gauge-invariant projection of a product over links of Hall’s heat kernels for the cotangent bundle of . The labels of the state are written in terms of two unit vectors, a spin and an angle for each link of the graph. The heat-kernel time is chosen to be a function of the spin. These labels are the ones used in the spin-foam setting and admit a clear geometric interpretation. Moreover, the set of labels per link can be written as an element of . These states coincide with Thiemann’s coherent states with the area operator as complexifier. We study the properties of semiclassicality of these states and show that, for large spins, they reproduce a superposition over spins of spin-networks with nodes labeled by Livine-Speziale coherent intertwiners. Moreover, the weight associated to spins on links turns out to be given by a Gaussian times a phase as originally proposed by Rovelli.
- Received 18 February 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.82.024012
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