I review the lattice approach to quantum gravity, and how it relates to the non-trivial ultraviolet fixed point scenario of the continuum theory. After a brief introduction covering the general problem of ultraviolet divergences in gravity and other non-renormalizable theories, I discuss the general methods and goals of the lattice approach. An underlying theme is the attempt at establishing connections between the continuum renormalization group results, which are mainly based on diagrammatic perturbation theory, and the recent lattice results, which apply to the strong gravity regime and are inherently non-perturbative. A second theme in this review is the ever-present natural correspondence between infrared methods of strongly coupled non-abelian gauge theories on the one hand, and the low energy approach to quantum gravity based on the renormalization group and universality of critical behavior on the other. Towards the end of the review I discuss possible observational consequences of path integral quantum gravity, as derived from the non-trivial ultraviolet fixed point scenario. I argue that the theoretical framework naturally leads to considering a weakly scale-dependent Newton’s constant, with a scaling violation parameter related to the observed scaled cosmological constant (and not, as naively expected, to the Planck length).

Nonperturbative studies of quantum gravity have recently suggested the possibility that the strength of gravitational interactions might slowly increase with distance. Here a set of generally covariant effective field equations are proposed, which are intended to incorporate the gravitational, vacuum-polarization induced, running of Newton’s constant $G$. One attractive feature of this approach is that, from an underlying quantum gravity perspective, the resulting long-distance (or large time) effective gravitational action inherits only one adjustable parameter $\xi$, having the units of a length, arising from dimensional transmutation in the gravitational sector. Assuming the above scenario to be correct, some simple predictions for the long-distance corrections to the classical standard model Robertson-Walker metric are worked out in detail, with the results formulated as much as possible in a model-independent framework. It is found that the theory, even in the limit of vanishing renormalized cosmological constant, generally predicts an accelerated power-law expansion at later times $t\sim \xi \sim 1/H$.

The lattice formulation of quantum gravity provides a natural framework in which nonperturbative properties of the ground state can be studied in detail. In this paper we investigate how the lattice results relate to the continuum semiclassical expansion about smooth manifolds. As an example we give an explicit form for the lattice ground-state wave functional for semiclassical geometries. We then do a detailed comparison between the more recent predictions from the lattice regularized theory and results obtained in the continuum for the nontrivial ultraviolet fixed point of quantum gravity found using weak field and nonperturbative methods. In particular we focus on the derivative of the beta function at the fixed point and the related universal critical exponent $\nu$ for gravitation. Based on recently available lattice and continuum results we assess the evidence for the presence of a massless spin-two particle in the continuum limit of the strongly coupled lattice theory. Finally we compare the lattice prediction for the vacuum-polarization induced weak scale dependence of the gravitational coupling with recent calculations in the continuum, finding similar effects.

A model for quantized gravitation based on simplicial lattice discretization is studied in detail using a comprehensive finite size scaling analysis combined with renormalization group methods. The results are consistent with a value for the universal critical exponent for gravitation, $\nu =1/3,$ and suggest a simple relationship between Newton’s constant, the gravitational correlation length and the observable average space-time curvature. Some perhaps testable phenomenological implications of these results are discussed. To achieve a high numerical accuracy in the evaluation of the lattice path integral a dedicated parallel machine was assembled.

In this work nonperturbative aspects of quantum gravity are investigated using the lattice formulation, and some new results are presented for critical exponents, amplitudes, and invariant correlation functions. Values for the universal scaling dimensions are compared with other nonperturbative approaches to gravity in four dimensions, and specifically to the conjectured value for the universal critical exponent $\nu =1/3$. The lattice results are generally consistent with gravitational antiscreening, which would imply a slow increase in the strength of the gravitational coupling with distance, and presented herein are detailed estimates for exponents and amplitudes characterizing this slow rise. Furthermore, it is shown that in the lattice approach (as for gauge theories) the quantum theory is highly constrained, and eventually, by virtue of scaling, depends on a rather small set of physical parameters. Arguments are given in support of the statement that the fundamental reference scale for the growth of the gravitational coupling $G$ with distance is represented by the observed scaled cosmological constant $\lambda$, which in gravity acts as an effective nonperturbative infrared cutoff. In this nonperturbative vacuum condensate picture a fundamental relationship emerges among the scale characterizing the running of $G$ at large distances, the macroscopic scale for the curvature as described by the observed cosmological constant, and the behavior of invariant gravitational correlation functions at large distances. Overall, the lattice results suggest that the slow infrared growth of $G$ with distance should become observable only on very large distance scales, comparable to $\lambda$. One may hope that future high precision satellite experiments could possibly come within reach of this small quantum correction, as suggested by the vacuum condensate picture of quantum gravity.

Quantum gravity is investigated in the limit of a large number of space-time dimensions $d$, using as an ultraviolet regularization the simplicial lattice path integral formulation. In the weak field limit the appropriate expansion parameter is determined to be $1/d$. For the case of a simplicial lattice dual to a hypercube, the critical point is found at $k_c/\lambda =1/d$ (with $k=1/8\pi G$) separating a weak coupling from a strong coupling phase, and with $2d^2$ degenerate zero modes at $k_c$. The strong coupling, large $G$, phase is then investigated by analyzing the general structure of the strong coupling expansion in the large $d$ limit. Dominant contributions to the curvature correlation functions are described by large closed random polygonal surfaces, for which excluded volume effects can be neglected at large $d$, and whose geometry we argue can be approximated by unconstrained random surfaces in this limit. In large dimensions the gravitational correlation length is then found to behave as $|\log (k_c-k){|}^{1/2}$, implying for the universal gravitational critical exponent the value $\nu =0$ at $d=\infty$.