Conveners
Statistical Equilibrium in Group Field Theory Quantum Gravity
- Isha Kotecha
Description
Formulating statistical equilibrium in background independent settings, where the standard notions of time and energy are absent, is an open issue. This is even more so in non-perturbative quantum gravity contexts which are not based on the usual geometrical spacetime, which then is an emergent structure. In this talk, I will clarify the different characterisations of Gibbs statistical equilibrium, focussing on those crucial for background independent (such as, time-less) systems. I will then present the relevant basics of the group field theory formalism for quantum gravity, whose fundamental quanta are non-spatiotemporal ‘atoms’ or building blocks of space, organised in a Fock space along with its quantum statistical mechanics. Based on this, one can construct Gibbs states encoding different notions of equilibrium. In this talk, I will present one such example of a non-standard Gibbs state based on a geometric volume operator, which supports condensation to a low-spin phase.
