All we have is a bare manifold to start with. Consequently, the description can not refer to a background metric. As we will see, this fact leads one to Hilbert spaces of quantum states which are quite different from the familiar Fock spaces of particle physics. Microscopically, geometry is rather like a polymer. Recall that, although polymers are intrinsically one dimensional, when densely packed in suitable configurations they can exhibit properties of a three dimensional system.
Gravitons are no longer the fundamental mediators of the gravitational interaction.
They now arise only as approximate notions. They represent perturbations of weave states and mediate the gravitational force only in the semi-classical approximation. They provide a rather detailed picture of quantum geometry from which physical predictions can be made. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, I will indicate how one can reformulate general relativity so that it resembles gauge theories.