A new 2+1 coherent spin-foam vertex for quantum gravity

We propose an explicit spin-foam amplitude for Lorentzian gravity in three dimensions. The model is based on two main requirements: that it should be structurally similar to its well-known Euclidean analog, and that geometricity should be recovered in the semiclassical regime. To this end we introduce new coherent states for space-like 1-dimensional boundaries, derived from the continuous series of unitary SU (1, 1) representations. We show that the relevant objects in the amplitude can be written in terms of the defining representation of the group, just as so happens in the Euclidean case. We derive an expression for the semiclassical amplitude at large spins, showing that it relates to the Lorentzian Regge action.