Projective Ponzano–Regge spin networks and their symmetries

Abstract

We present a novel hierarchical construction of projective spin networks of the Ponzano-Regge type from an assembling of five quadrangles up to the combinatorial 4-simplex compatible with a geometrical realization in Euclidean 4-space. The key ingredients are the projective Desargues configuration and the incidence structure given by its space-dual, on the one hand, and the Biedenharn–Elliott identity for the 6j symbol of SU(2), on the other. The interplay between projective-combinatorial and algebraic features relies on the recoupling theory of angular momenta, an approach to discrete quantum gravity models carried out successfully over the last few decades. The role of Regge symmetry–an intriguing discrete symmetry of the 6j which goes beyond the standard tetrahedral symmetry of this symbol–will be also discussed in brief to highlight its role in providing a natural regularization of projective spin networks that somehow mimics the standard regularization through a q-deformation of SU(2).