Related papers: 2D Gravity with Torsion, Oriented Matroids and 2+2…

Non-abelian higher gauge theory has recently emerged as a generalization of standard gauge theory to higher dimensional (2-dimensional in the present context) connection forms, and as such, it has been successfully applied to the…

We shall review a novel formulation of four dimensional gauged supergravity which is manifestly covariant with respect to the non-perturbative electric-magnetic duality symmetry transformations of the ungauged theory, at the level of the…

In a recent paper, we introduced a new discretization scheme for gravity in 2+1 dimensions. Starting from the continuum theory, this new scheme allowed us to rigorously obtain the discrete phase space of loop gravity, coupled to…

The well known N=2 string theory describes self-dual gravity, as was shown by Ooguri and Vafa sometime ago. In search of a variant of this theory which would describe self-dual supergravity in 2+2 dimensions, we have constructed two new N=2…

How to detect spacetime torsion? In this essay we provide the theoretical basis for an answer to this question. Multipolar equations of motion for a very general class of gravitational theories with nonminimal coupling in spacetimes…

The theory of embedded random surfaces, equivalent to two--dimensional quantum gravity coupled to matter, is reviewed, further developed and partly generalized to four dimensions. It is shown that the action of the Liouville field theory…

We discuss the possibility of having gravity ``localized'' in dimension d in a system where gauge bosons propagate in dimension d+1. In such a circumstance - depending on the rate of falloff of the field strengths in d dimensions - one…

These are introductory lectures for a general audience that give an overview of the subject of matrix models and their application to random surfaces, 2d gravity, and string theory. They are intentionally 1.5 years out of date. 0. Canned…

We investigate a linearized tensor-tensor theory of gravity with torsion and a perturbed torsion wave solution is discovered in background Minkowski spacetime with zero torsion. Furthermore, gauge transformations of any perturbed tensor…

In a quantum gravity theory, it is expected that the classical notion of spacetime disappears, leading to a quantum structure with new properties. A possible way to take into account these quantum effects is through a noncommutativity of…

We consider type IIB compactifications on a general 4D group manifold with different types of possible spacetime filling O-planes and the corresponding D-branes parallel to them. Once fluxes allowed by the associated orientifold projection…

Two dimensional gravity with torsion is proved to be equivalent to special types of generalized 2d dilaton gravity. E.g. in one version, the dilaton field is shown to be expressible by the extra scalar curvature, constructed for an…

We describe a theory of gravitation on canonical noncommutative spacetimes. The construction is based on theta-twisted General Coordinate Transformations and Local Lorentz Invariance.

We discuss the possibility of constraining theories of gravity in which the connection is a fundamental variable by searching for observational consequences of the torsion degrees of freedom. In a wide class of models, the only modes of the…

We use the polygon representation of 2+1--dimensional gravity to explicitly carry out the canonical quantization of a universe with the topology of a torus. The mapping-class-invariant wave function for a quantum ''big bounce'', is…

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…

In this paper we study K3 compactification of ten-dimensional massive type IIA theory with all possible Ramond-Ramond background fluxes turned on. The resulting six-dimensional theory is a new massive (gauged) supergravity with an action…

We discuss the properties of the large phase space of the genus-0 topological minimal $A_{k + 1}$ model coupled to 2d topological gravity. The minimal action is perturbed by adding all possible gravitational descendants with non-trivial…

Quantum theory of 2d gravity is examined by including a special quantum correction, which corresponds to the open string loop corrections and provides a new conformal anomaly for the corresponding $\sigma$ model. This anomaly leads to the…

We discuss the Dirac quantization of two dimensional gravity with bosonic matter fields. After defining the extended Hamiltonian it is possible to fix the gauge completely. The commutators can all be obtained in closed form; nevertheless,…