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Main Authors: Balasubramanian, Vijay, Cummings, Charlie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.13941
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author Balasubramanian, Vijay
Cummings, Charlie
author_facet Balasubramanian, Vijay
Cummings, Charlie
contents Tensor networks prepare states that share many features of states in quantum gravity. However, standard constructions are not diffeomorphism invariant and do not support an algebra of non-commuting area operators. Recently, analogues of both problems were addressed in a tensor network discretization of topological field theories (TFT) with finite or compact gauge groups. Here, we extend this work towards gravity by generalizing to gauge groups that are discrete or continuous, compact or non-compact. Applied to $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{R}) \times \text{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})$ Chern-Simons theory, our construction can be interpreted as building states of three dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant. Our tensor networks prepare states that satisfy the constraints of Chern-Simons theory. In metric variables, this implies that the states we construct satisfy the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and momentum constraints, and so are diffeomorphism invariant.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_13941
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Diffeomorphism invariant tensor networks for 3d gravity
Balasubramanian, Vijay
Cummings, Charlie
High Energy Physics - Theory
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Quantum Physics
Tensor networks prepare states that share many features of states in quantum gravity. However, standard constructions are not diffeomorphism invariant and do not support an algebra of non-commuting area operators. Recently, analogues of both problems were addressed in a tensor network discretization of topological field theories (TFT) with finite or compact gauge groups. Here, we extend this work towards gravity by generalizing to gauge groups that are discrete or continuous, compact or non-compact. Applied to $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{R}) \times \text{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})$ Chern-Simons theory, our construction can be interpreted as building states of three dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant. Our tensor networks prepare states that satisfy the constraints of Chern-Simons theory. In metric variables, this implies that the states we construct satisfy the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and momentum constraints, and so are diffeomorphism invariant.
title Diffeomorphism invariant tensor networks for 3d gravity
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.13941