What is the curvature of 2D Euclidean quantum gravity?
A bstract We re-examine the nonperturbative curvature properties of two-dimensional Euclidean quantum gravity, obtained as the scaling limit of a path integral over dynamical triangulations of a two-sphere, which lies in the same universality class as Liouville quantum gravity. The diffeomorphism-invariant observable that allows us to compare the averaged curvature of highly quantum-fluctuating geometries with that of classical spaces is the so-called curvature profile. A Monte Carlo analysis on three geometric ensembles, which are physically equivalent but differ by the inclusion of local degeneracies, leads to new insights on the influence of finite-size effects. After eliminating them, we find strong evidence that the curvature profile of 2D Euclidean quantum gravity is best matched by that of a classical round four-sphere, rather than the five-sphere found in previous work. Our analysis suggests the existence of a well-defined quantum Ricci curvature in the scaling limit.
Authors
- R. Loll (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5344-1991)
- T. Niestadt
Institutions
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Perimeter Institute (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of High Energy Physics
- Published
- 2025-04-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep04(2025)158
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.32
Funders
- Government of Canada
- Institut Périmètre de physique théorique
- Ministry of Colleges and Universities