Les Houches lectures on Spinfoam Path Integrals

Abstract

In these lecture notes for the Les Houches School on Loop Quantum Gravity 2025, which took place in September 2025, we give a pedagogical review of the basics of the spinfoam framework for a quantum gravity path integral. While spin network states in loop quantum gravity describe the quantum geometry of the 3d space as dynamical networks of entangled quanta of volumes, spinfoams define transition amplitudes for those spin networks using the reformulation of general relativity as an "almost-topological" field theory and tools from quantum BF theory and topological state-sums. The lectures were a short format of three times one hour and a half, only allowing to cover the basics and offer a glimpse of more advanced lines of research. We introduce spin foam path integrals for increasing spacetime dimensions starting with 2d BF theory, then build up to 3d quantum gravity with the Ponzano-Regge state-sum and the Turaev-Viro invariant, and finally the quantization of general relativity in four dimensions.