English

Spacetime and large local transformations

High Energy Physics - Theory 2023-06-28 v2

Abstract

We argue that the existence of solitons in theories in which local symmetries are spontaneously broken requires spacetime to be enlarged by additional coordinates that are associated with large local transformations. In the context of gravity theories the usual coordinates of spacetime can be thought of arising in this way. E theory automatically contains such an enlarged spacetime. We propose that spacetime appears in an underlying theory when the local symmetries are spontaneously broken.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2302.02199,
  title  = {Spacetime and large local transformations},
  author = {Peter West},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.02199},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

A dedication to Lars Brink and references 45 and 46 added. A typo in equation (1.2.1) corrected

R2 v1 2026-06-28T08:32:03.269Z