Progress in Group Field Theory and Related Quantum Gravity Formalisms

Following the fundamental insights from quantum mechanics and general relativity geometry itself should have a quantum description; the search for a complete understanding of this description is what drives the field of quantum gravity. Group field theory is an ambitious framework in which theories of quantum geometry are formulated incorporating successful ideas from the fields of matrix models ten-sor models spin foam models and loop quantum gravity as well as from the broader areas of quantum field theory and mathematical physics. This special issue collects recent work in group field theory and these related approaches as well as other neighbouring fields (e.g. cosmology quantum information and quantum foundations statistical physics) to the extent that these are directly relevant to quantum gravity research.