Normalization of quantized area using torsion and spin

We calculate the change in physical space-time area associated with defects in space-time due to torsion when a particle with spin is present. This ch ange in area is then set equal to the component of the quantized area due t o a link of color A in the spin network originally calculated by Rovelli an d Smolin [6] and shown to have an arbitrary constant factor, the Immirzi pa rameter by several authors. Using the usual quantization condition for the square of the spin then allows us to calculate this arbitrary constant fact or. We find a well defined expression for the quantized area, A = 16 pil(P) (2)Sigma root jl(jl + 1). An interesting picture emerges where a missing li nk of color Pl in the spin network looks like a torsional defect in space-t ime associated with a particle of spin jl = Pl/2.