Phase diagram of Regge quantum gravity coupled to SU(2) gauge theory

Abstract

We analyze Regge quantum gravity coupled to SU(2) gauge theory on $4^3\times 2$, $6^{3}\times 4$ and $8^{3}\times 4$ simplicial lattices. It turns out that the window of the well-defined phase of the gravity sector where geometrical expectation values are stable extends to negative gravitational couplings as well as to gauge couplings across the deconfinement phase transition. We study the string tension from Polyakov loops, compare with the $\beta$-function of pure gauge theory and conclude that a physical limit through scaling is possible.