Exploring quantum spacetime with topological data analysis
J. van der Duin, R. Loll, Marcelo Schiffer, Agustín Silva · Physics Letters B · 2026
Applying the tools of topological data analysis (TDA) to nonperturbative quantum gravity, we introduce a new class of observables that allows us to assess whether quantum spacetime really resembles a “quantum foam” near the Planck scale. The key idea is to investigate the Betti numbers of coarse-grained path integral histories, regularized in terms of dynamical triangulations, as a function of the coarse-graining scale. In two dimensions our analysis exhibits the well-known fractal structure of Euclidean quantum gravity.