QUANTUM TOPOLOGY CHANGE IN (2 + 1)d

The topology of orientable (2+1) space–times can be captured by certain lumps of nontrivial topology called topological geons. They are the topological analogs of conventional solitons. We give a description of topological geons where the degrees of freedom related to topology are separated from the complete theory that contain metric (dynamical) degrees of freedom. The formalism also allows us to investigate processes of quantum topology change. They correspond to creation and annihilation of quantum geons. Selection rules for such processes are derived.