New volume and inverse volume operators for loop quantum gravity

A new alternative volume operator is constructed for loop quantum gravity by using the so-called cotriad operators as building blocks. It is shown that the new volume operator shares the same qualitative properties with the standard volume operator. Moreover, a new alternative inverse volume operator is also constructed in the light of the construction of the alternative volume operator, which is possessed of the same qualitative properties as those of the alternative volume operator. The new inverse volume operator can be employed to construct the Hamiltonian operator of matter fields, which may lead to an anomaly-free on-shell quantum constraint algebra without any special restriction on the regularization procedure for gravity coupled to matter fields.