In recent twenty years, loop quantum gravity, a background independent approach to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, has been widely investigated. The aim of loop quantum gravity is to construct a mathematically rigorous, background independent, nonperturbative quantum theory for Lorentzian gravitational field on four-dimensional manifold. In the approach, the principles of quantum mechanics are combined with those of general relativity naturally. Such a combination provides us a picture of, so-called, quantum Riemannian geometry, which is discrete at fundamental scale. Imposing the quantum constraints in analogy from the classical ones, the quantum dynamics of gravity is being studied as one of the most important issues in loop quantum gravity. On the other hand, the semi-classical analysis is being carried out to test the classical limit of the quantum theory.In this review, the fundamental structure of loop quantum gravity is presented pedagogically. Our main aim is to help non-experts to understand the motivations, basic structures, as well as general results. It may also be beneficial to practitioners to gain insights from different perspectives on the theory. We will focus on the theoretical framework itself, rather than its applications, and do our best to write it in modern and precise langauge while keeping the presentation accessible for beginners. After reviewing the classical connection dynamical formalism of general relativity, as a foundation, the construction of kinematical Ashtekar-IshamLewandowski representation is introduced in the content of quantum kinematics. The algebraic structure of quantum kinematics is also discussed. In the content of quantum dynamics, we mainly introduce the construction of a Hamiltonian constraint operator and the master constraint project. At last, some applications and recent advances are outlined. It should be noted that this strategy of quantizing gravity can also be extended to obtain other background independent quantum gauge theories. There is no divergence within this background independent and diffeomorphism invariant quantization programme of matter coupled to gravity.

Since there are quantization ambiguities in constructing the Hamiltonian constraint operator in isotropic loop quantum cosmology, it is crucial to check whether the key features of loop quantum cosmology are robust against the ambiguities. In this paper, we quantize the Lorentz term of the gravitational Hamiltonian constraint in the spatially flat FRW model by two approaches different from that of the Euclidean term. One of the approaches is very similar to the treatment of the Lorentz part of Hamiltonian in loop quantum gravity and hence inherits more features from the full theory. Two symmetric Hamiltonian constraint operators are constructed respectively in the improved scheme. Both of them are shown to have the correct classical limit by the semiclassical analysis. In the loop quantum cosmological model with a massless scalar field, the effective Hamiltonians and Friedmann equations are derived. It turns out that the classical big bang is again replaced by a quantum bounce in both cases. Moreover, there are still great possibilities for the expanding universe to recollapse due to the quantum gravity effect.

Semiclassical states in isotropic loop quantum cosmology are employed to show that the improved dynamics has the correct classical limit. The effective Hamiltonian for the quantum cosmological model with a massless scalar field is thus obtained, which incorporates also the next to leading order quantum corrections. The possibility that the higher order correction terms may lead to significant departure from the leading order effective scenario is revealed. If the semiclassicality of the model is maintained in the large scale limit, there are great possibilities for a k=0 Friedmann expanding universe to undergo a collapse in the future due to the quantum gravity effect. Thus the quantum bounce and collapse may contribute a cyclic universe in the new scenario.

As modified gravity theories, the 4-dimensional metric f (R) theories are cast into connection dynamical formalism with real su(2)-connections as configuration variables. This formalism enables us to extend the non-perturbative loop quantization scheme of general relativity to any metric f (R) theories. The quantum kinematical framework of f (R) gravity is rigorously constructed, where the quantum dynamics can be launched. Both Hamiltonian constraint operator and master constraint operator for f (R) theories are well defined. Our results show that the non-perturbative quantization procedure of loop quantum gravity are valid not only for general relativity but also for a rather general class of 4-dimensional metric theories of gravity.