Quasi-Local 3D Quantum Gravity : Exact Amplitude and Holography

Abstract: This thesis is dedicated to the study of quasi-local boundary in quantum gravity in the 3D space-time case. This research takes root in the holographic principle, which conjectures that the geometry and the dynamic of a space-time region can be entirely described by a theory living on the boundary of this given region. The most studied case of this principle is the AdS/CFT correspondence, where the quantum fluctuations of an asymptotically AdS space are described by a conformal field theory living at spatial infinity, invariant under the Virasoro group. The philosophy applied in this thesis differs from the AdS/CFT case. I focus on the case of quasi-local holography, i.e. for a bounded region of space-time with a boundary at a finite distance. The objective is to clarify the bulk-boundary relation in quantum gravity described by the Ponzano-Regge model, defining a model for 3D gravity via a discrete path integral. I present the first perturbative and exact computations of the Ponzano-Regge amplitude on a torus with a 2D boundary state. After the presentation of the general framework for the 3D amplitude in terms of the 2D boundary state, I consider the 2D torus case, with application in the study of the thermodynamics of the BTZ black hole. First, the 2D boundary is described by a coherent spin network state in the semi-classical regime. The stationary phase approximation allows to recover in the asymptotic limit the usual amplitude for 3D quantum gravity as the character of the symmetry of asymptotically flat gravity, the BMS group. Then I introduce a new type of coherent boundary state, which allows an exact evaluation of the amplitude for 3D quantum gravity. I obtain a complex regularization of the BMS character. The possibility of this exact computation suggests the existence of a (quasi)-integrable structure, linked to the symmetries of 3D quantum gravity with 2D finite boundary.