We show that, in general, a spacetime having a quantum group symmetry has also a scale-dependent fractal dimension which deviates from its classical value at short scales, a phenomenon that resembles what is observed in some approaches to quantum gravity. In particular, we analyze the cases of a quantum sphere and of $\kappa$-Minkowski spacetime, the latter being relevant in the context of quantum gravity.

We use functional renormalization group methods to study gravity minimally coupled to a free scalar field. This setup provides the prototype of a gravitational theory which is perturbatively non-renormalizable at one-loop level, but may possess a non-trivial renormalization group fixed point controlling its UV behavior. We show that such a fixed point indeed exists within the truncations considered, lending strong support to the conjectured asymptotic safety of the theory. In particular, we demonstrate that the counterterms responsible for its perturbative non-renormalizability have no qualitative effect on this feature

We set up the Functional Renormalisation Group formalism for Tensorial Group Field Theory in full generality. We then apply it to a rank-3 model over U(1)³, endowed with a kinetic term linear in the momenta and with nonlocal interactions. The system of FRG equations turns out to be non-autonomous in the RG flow parameter. This feature is explained by the existence of a hidden scale, the radius of the group manifold. We investigate in detail the opposite regimes of large cut-off (UV) and small cut-off (IR) of the FRG equations, where the system becomes autonomous, and we find, in both case, Gaussian and non-Gaussian fixed points. We derive and interpret the critical exponents and flow diagrams associated with these fixed points, and discuss how the UV and IR regimes are matched. Finally, we discuss the evidence for a phase transition from a symmetric phase to a broken or condensed phase, from an RG perspective, finding that this seems to exist only in the approximate regime of very large radius of the group manifold, as to be expected for systems on compact manifolds.

Employing standard results from spectral geometry, we provide strong evidence that in the classical limit the ground state of three-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations is de Sitter spacetime. This result is obtained by measuring the expectation value of the spectral dimension on the ensemble of geometries defined by these models, and comparing its large-scale behavior to that of a sphere (Euclidean de Sitter). From the same measurement we are also able to confirm the phenomenon of dynamical dimensional reduction observed in this and other approaches to quantum gravity—the first time this has been done for three-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations. In this case, the value for the short-scale limit of the spectral dimension that we find is approximately 2. We comment on the relevance of these results for the comparison to asymptotic safety and Hořava-Lifshitz gravity, among other approaches to quantum gravity.

We develop the functional renormalization group formalism for a tensorial group field theory with closure constraint, in the case of a just renormalizable model over , with quartic interactions. The method allows us to obtain a closed but non-autonomous system of differential equations which describe the renormalization group flow of the couplings beyond perturbation theory. The explicit dependence of the beta functions on the running scale is due to the existence of an external scale in the model, the radius of . We study the occurrence of fixed points and their critical properties in two different approximate regimes, corresponding to the deep UV and deep IR. Besides confirming the asymptotic freedom of the model, we find also a non-trivial fixed point, with one relevant direction. Our results are qualitatively similar to those found previously for a rank-3 model without closure constraint, and it is thus tempting to speculate that the presence of a Wilson–Fisher-like fixed point is a general feature of asymptotically free tensorial group field theories.