Basic Rundown on Current Quantum Gravity Research

[Kevin_Axion]

Can someone give me a rundown on current quantum gravity research namely:

Loop Quantum gravity

Causal Dynamical Triangulation

Group Field Theory

I had my attention on them in the past but I lost track of any progress that has been made (the last time I checked I think Rovelli wrote a paper on including fermions in spin foam models) or what problems they're currently facing.

Thanks!

EDIT: Excuse me for not looking but there is a post underneath mine that appears to be asking the exact same thing as me.

[marcus]

No problem! You are asking a broader question including research programs like CDT and GFT (which you explicitly mention) and I would guess also Asymptotic Safe QG some kinds of emergent gravity----as well as Loop. The other thread was mainly asking about the recent developments in LQG.

[Kevin_Axion]

No problem! You are asking a broader question including research programs like CDT and GFT (which you explicitly mention) and I would guess also Asymptotic Safe QG some kinds of emergent gravity----as well as Loop. The other thread was mainly asking about the recent developments in LQG.

Yea, I suppose the question is still valid for both of those research programs (I haven't heard a lot on Asymptotic Safety).

[marcus]

Kevin, did you glance at the lineup of papers at the Loops 2011 conference? That gives something of a panorama. Videos are available online for the main invited morning talks and slides PDF for the shorter parallel session afternoon talks.
http://www.iem.csic.es/loops11/

I'm not actively involved. Just an interested bystander. I don't know enough to give you an accurate summary overview. There are several separate approaches, advances on several fronts. No concise summary would do the QG situation justice.

I don't suggest you try to watch all the main videos and look at all the PDF slide files. Too much. Just scan down the list of titles and maybe sample one here and there that catches your attention. At least you get a taste of what the active topics are.

There is another QG conference that gives a panorama view. The Zurich *Quantum Theory and Gravitation*:
http://www.conferences.itp.phys.ethz.ch/doku.php?id=qg11:programme

The titles of all the talks are listed, with a link to the slides PDF for nearly all. Someone I think is very creative and not easy to predict is Mikhail Shaposhnikov. You see there his slide PDF.
I was just looking at a paper of his, connected with AsymSafe QG and a Higgs prediction:
http://physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=3667790#post3667790

My feeling is that we are in a chaotic period, the QG is more wild and up for grabs than it was say in 2005. It is less of a game played by set rules than earlier.

[Kevin_Axion]

Kevin, did you glance at the lineup of papers at the Loops 2011 conference? That gives something of a panorama. Videos are available online for the main invited morning talks and slides PDF for the shorter parallel session afternoon talks.
http://www.iem.csic.es/loops11/

I had a look at Rovelli's paper: Loop Quantum Gravity: The First Twenty-five years (http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1012/1012.4707v4.pdf)

I'll check out the talks.

Thanks!

EDIT: I can't really grasp the mathematical details being discussed so I think I'll settle for Rovelli's simple list in his paper.