Related papers: The geometric role of symmetry breaking in gravity
We present a recent definition of symmetry generating vector fields on manifolds equipped with a first-order reductive Cartan geometry. We apply this definition to a number of spacetime geometries used in gravity theories and show that it…
Matter is coupled to three-dimensional gravity such that the topological phase is allowed and the (anti-) de Sitter or Poincar\'e symmetry remains intact. Spontaneous symmetry breaking to the Lorentz group occurs if a scalar field is…
A geometric mechanism that may, in analogy to similar notions in physics, be considered as "symmetry breaking" in geometry is described, and several instances of this mechanism in differential geometry are discussed: it is shown how…
In Ashtekar's Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity, and in loop quantum gravity, Lorentz covariance is a subtle issue that has been strongly debated. Maintaining manifest Lorentz covariance seems to require introducing either…
In gauge theory, Higgs fields are responsible for spontaneous symmetry breaking. In classical gauge theory on a principal bundle P, a symmetry breaking is defined as the reduction of a structure group of this principal bundle to a subgroup…
When joined the unified gauge picture of fundamental interactions, the gravitation theory leads to geometry of a space-time which is far from simplicity of pseudo-Riemannian geometry of Einstein's General Relativity. This is geometry of the…
We use the theory of Cartan connections to analyze the geometrical structures underpinning the gauge-theoretical descriptions of the gravitational interaction. According to the theory of Cartan connections, the spin connection $\omega$ and…
{\it If gravity is a metric field by Einstein, it is a Higgs field.} Gravitation theory meets spontaneous symmetry breaking in accordance with the Equivalence Principle reformulated in the spirit of Klein-Chern geometries of invariants. In…
It has been known for some time that General Relativity can be regarded as a Yang-Mills-type gauge theory in a symmetry broken phase. In this picture the gravity sector is described by an $SO(1,4)$ or $SO(2,3)$ gauge field…
The Einstein-Cartan theory of gravity can arise from a mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking within the context of pre-geometric gauge theories. In this work, we develop the Hamiltonian analysis of such theories. By making contact with…
A distance can be measured by monitoring how much a wheel has rotated when rolled without slipping. This simple idea underlies the mathematics of Cartan geometry. The Cartan-geometric description of gravity consists of a SO(1,4) gauge…
The fundamental symmetries in gravity and gauge theories, formulated using differential forms, are gauge transformations and diffeomorphisms. These symmetries act in distinct ways on different dynamical fields. Yet, the commutator of these…
Diffeomorphisms and an internal symmetry (e.g., local Lorentz invariance) are typically regarded as the symmetries of any geometrical gravity theory, including general relativity. In the first-order formalism, diffeomorphisms can be thought…
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a cornerstone of modern physics, defining a wealth of phenomena in condensed-matter and high-energy physics, and beyond. It requires an infinite number of degrees of freedom, and even then, for continuous…
A number of approaches to gravitation have much in common with the gauge theories of the standard model of particle physics. In this paper, we develop the Hamiltonian formulation of a class of gravitational theories that may be regarded as…
On basis of an algebraic analysis of symmetry breaking in general and the Higgs mechanism in the standard model of elementary particles we generalize the concept of symmetry breaking to systems with non-compact groups but not necessarily…
Gravity is usually considered to be irrelevant as far as the physics of elementary particles is concerned and, in particular, in the context of the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) mechanism. We describe a version of the SSB mechanism in…
The concept of (global) gauge symmetry breaking plays an important role in many areas of physics. Since the corresponding symmetry is a gauge symmetry, its breaking is actually gauge-dependent. Thus, it is possible to design gauges which…
We analyse symmetry breaking in general gauge theories paying particular attention to the underlying geometry of the theory. In this context we find two natural metrics upon the vacuum manifold: a Euclidean metric associated with the scalar…
In Parts I and II of the work (gr-qc/9405013, 9407032), we have shown that gravity is {\it sui generis} a Higgs field corresponding to spontaneous symmetry breaking when the fermion matter admits only the Lorentz subgroup of world…