Abstract

I will explain a general strategy to lift (2+1)D topological phases, in particular string nets, to (3+1)D models with line defects. This allows a systematic construction of (3+1)D topological theories with defects, including an improved version of the Walker-Wang Model. It has also an interesting application to quantum gravity as it leads to quantum geometry realizations for which all geometric operators have discrete and bounded spectra. I will furthermore comment on some interesting (self-) duality relations that emerge in these constructions.