Loop Quantization of a 3D Abelian BF Model with σ-Model Matter

The main goal of this work is to explore the symmetries and develop the dynamics associated with a 3D Abelian BF model coupled to scalar fields submitted to a sigma model like constraint, at the classical and quantum levels. Background independence, on which the model is founded, strongly constrains its nature. We adapt to the present model the techniques of Loop Quantum Gravity in order to construct its physical Hilbert space and its observables.