Discrete Hamiltonian for General Relativity

Abstract

Beginning from the Ashtekar formulation of canonical general relativity, we derive a physical Hamiltonian written in terms of (classical) loop gravity variables. This is done by gauge-fixing the gravitational fields within a complex of three-dimensional cells such that curvature and torsion vanish within each cell. The resulting theory is holographic, with the bulk dynamics being captured completely by degrees of freedom living on cell boundaries. Quantization is readily obtainable by existing methods.