Canonical quantization is often used to suggest new effects in quantum gravity, in the dynamics as well as the structure of space-time. Usually, possible phenomena are first seen in a modified version of the classical dynamics, for instance in an effective Friedmann equation, but there should also be implications for a modified space-time structure. Quantum space-time effects, however, are often ignored in this setting because they are not obvious: they require a careful analysis of gauge transformations and the anomaly problem. It is shown here how modified space-time structures and effective line elements can be derived unambiguously, provided an off-shell anomaly-free system of modified constraints exists. The resulting effective line elements reveal signature change as an inescapable consequence of nonclassical gauge transformations in the presence of holonomy modifications. The general framework is then specialized to black-hole models in loop quantum gravity. In contrast to previous studies, a self-consistent space-time structure is taken into account, leading to a new picture of black-hole interiors.

• Received 8 June 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.046015