Related papers: Matrix universality of gauge and gravitational dyn…
We argue that two dimensional classical SU(2) Yang-Mills theory describes the embedding of Riemann surfaces in three dimensional curved manifolds. Specifically, the Yang-Mills field strength tensor computes the Riemannian curvature tensor…
We give an introduction to the recently established connection between supersymmetric gauge theories and matrix models. We begin by reviewing previous material that is required in order to follow the latest developments. This includes the…
In this work we propose a new general model of eternal cyclic Universe. We start from the assumption that quantum gravity corrections can be effectively accounted by the addition of higher order curvature terms in the Lagrangian density for…
Recent work on the loop representation of quantum gravity has revealed previously unsuspected connections between knot theory and quantum gravity, or more generally, 3-dimensional topology and 4-dimensional generally covariant physics. We…
In this paper we study the consistency of generalized global symmetries in theories of quantum gravity, in particular string theory. Such global symmetries arise in theories with $(p+1)$-form gauge fields, and for spacetime dimension $d\leq…
It is argued that gravity should cause a breakdown of quantum mechanics, at low energies, accessible to table-top experiments. It is then shown that one can formulate a theory of quantum gravity in which gravitational correlations exist…
We study theories with sixteen supercharges and a discrete energy spectrum. One class of theories has symmetry group $SU(2|4)$. They arise as truncations of ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang Mills. They include the plane wave matrix model, 2+1 super…
Linearised gravity has a global symmetry under which the graviton is shifted by a symmetric tensor satisfying a certain flatness condition. There is also a dual symmetry that can be associated with a global shift symmetry of the dual…
In this paper we show that a particular twist of $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills in three dimensions with gauge group SU(2) possesses a set of classical vacua corresponding to the space of flat connections of the {\it complexified} gauge…
It is well known that gravity in 2+1 dimensions can be recast as Chern-Simons theory, with the gauge group given by the local isometry group, depending on the metric signature and the cosmological constant. Point particles are added into…
The general form of N=2 supergravity coupled to an arbitrary number of vector multiplets and hypermultiplets, with a generic gauging of the scalar manifold isometries is given. This extends the results already available in the literature in…
We set an upper bound on the gravitational cutoff in theories with exact quantum numbers of large N periodicity, such as Z_N discrete symmetries. The bound stems from black hole physics. It is similar to the bound appearing in theories with…
In this work we consider gravitational theories in which the effect of coupling characteristic classes, appropriately introduced as operators in the Einstein-Hilbert action, has been taken into account. As it is well known, this approach…
Standard cosmological models rely on an approximate treatment of gravity, utilizing solutions of the linearized Einstein equations as well as physical approximations. In an era of precision cosmology, we should ask: are these approximate…
These lectures are intended as a broad introduction to Chern Simons gravity and supergravity. The motivation for these theories lies in the desire to have a gauge invariant action -in the sense of fiber bundles- in more than three…
We consider two simple criteria for when a physical theory should be said to be "generally covariant", and we argue that these criteria are not met by Yang-Mills theory, even on geometric formulations of that theory. The reason, we show, is…
In a recent paper [1], it was introduced a new class of gravitational theories with two local degrees of freedom. The existence of these theories apparently challenges the distinctive role of general relativity as the unique non-linear…
A perturbative regime based on contorsion as a dynamical variable and metric as a (classical) fixed background, is performed in the context of a pure Yang-Mills formulation based on $GL(3,R)$ gauge group. In the massless case we show that…
A viable formulation of gauge theory with extra generations in terms of quaternionic fields is presented. For the theory to be acceptable, the number of generations should be equal to or greater than 4. The quark-lepton mass matrices are…
We consider a class of matrix integrals over the unitary group $U(N)$ with an infinite set of couplings characterized by a series $f(q)=\sum_{n \ge 1} a_n q^n$, with $a_n \in \mathbb{Z}$. Such integrals arise in physics as the partition…