We propose, for dimension d, a discrete Lorentz invariant operator on scalar fields that approximates the Minkowski spacetime scalar d'Alembertian. For each dimension, this gives rise to a scalar curvature estimator for causal sets, and thence to a proposal for a causal set action.

Random non-commutative geometries are introduced by integrating over the space of Dirac operators that form a spectral triple with a fixed algebra and Hilbert space. The cases with the simplest types of Clifford algebra are investigated using Monte Carlo simulations to compute the integrals. Various qualitatively different types of behaviour of these random Dirac operators are exhibited. Some features are explained in terms of the theory of random matrices but other phenomena remain mysterious. Some of the models with a quartic action of symmetry-breaking type display a phase transition. Close to the phase transition the spectrum of a typical Dirac operator shows manifold-like behaviour for the eigenvalues below a cut-off scale.

Causal Dynamical Triangulations (CDT) is a lattice theory where aspects of quantum gravity can be studied. Two-dimensional CDT can be solved analytically and the continuum (quantum) Hamiltonian obtained. In this article we show that this continuum Hamiltonian is the one obtained by quantizing twodimensional projectable Hořava-Lifshitz gravity. 1 arXiv:1302.6359v1 [hep-th]

We study the N -dependent behaviour of 2d causal set quantum gravity. This theory is known to exhibit a phase transition as the analytic continuation parameter β, akin to an inverse temperature, is varied. Using a scaling analysis we find that the asymptotic regime is reached at relatively small values of N . Focussing on the 2d causal set action S, we find that β S scales like N ν where the scaling exponent ν takes different values on either side of the phase transition. For β > β c we find that ν = 2 which is consistent with our analytic predictions for a non-continuum phase in the large β regime. For β < β c we find that ν = 0, consistent with a continuum phase of constant negative curvature thus suggesting a dynamically generated cosmological constant. Moreover, we find strong evidence that the phase transition is first order. Our results strongly suggest that the asymptotic regime is reached in 2d causal set quantum gravity for N 65.

It is a common misconception that spacetime discreteness necessarily implies a violation of local Lorentz invariance. In fact, in the causal set approach to quantum gravity, Lorentz invariance follows from the specific implementation of the discreteness hypothesis. However, this comes at the cost of locality. In particular, it is difficult to define a "local" region in a manifoldlike causal set, i.e., one that corresponds to an approximately flat spacetime region. Following up on suggestions from previous work, we bridge this lacuna by proposing a definition of locality based on the abundance of m-element order-intervals as a function of m in a causal set. We obtain analytic expressions for the expectation value of this function for an ensemble of causal set that faithfully embeds into an Alexandrov interval in d-dimensional Minkowski spacetime and use it to define local regions in a manifoldlike causal set. We use this to argue that evidence of local regions is a necessary condition for manifoldlikeness in a causal set. This in addition provides a new continuum dimension estimator. We perform extensive simulations which support our claims.