Fermionic quantum gravity Original Research Article

We study the statistical mechanics of random surfaces generated by N×N one-matrix integrals over anti-commuting variables. These Grassmann-valued matrix models are shown to be equivalent to N×N unitary versions of generalized Penner matrix models. We explicitly solve for the combinatorics of ʹt Hooft diagrams of the matrix integral and develop an orthogonal polynomial formulation of the statistical theory. An examination of the large N and double scaling limits of the theory shows that the genus expansion is a Borel summable alternating series which otherwise coincides with two-dimensional quantum gravity in the continuum limit. We demonstrate that the partition functions of these matrix models belong to the relativistic Toda chain integrable hierarchy. The corresponding string equations and Virasoro constraints are derived and used to analyse the generalized KdV flow structure of the continuum limit.