Related papers: Transgression forms as source for topological grav…
We present a consistent way of coupling three-dimensional Maxwell Chern-Simons gravity theory with massless spin-$\frac{5}{2}$ gauge fields. We first introduce the simplest hyper-Maxwell Chern-Simons gravity containing two massless spin-2…
We investigate the effects of Chern-Simons-Gauss-Bonnet gravity on fundamental metrics. This theory involves perturbative corrections to general relativity, as well as two scalar fields, the axion and the dilaton, that arise from…
In this thesis we take Einstein theory in dimension four seriously, and explore the special aspects of gravity in this number of dimension. Among the many surprising features in dimension four, one of them is the possibility of `Chiral…
Supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric deformations of large $N=(4,4)$ SCFT with superconformal symmetry $D^1(2,1;\alpha)\times D^1(2,1;\alpha)$ are explored in the gravity dual described by a Chern-Simons $N=8$, $(SO(4)\times SO(4))\ltimes…
We find the canonical and Belinfante energy-momentum tensors and their nonzero traces. We note that the dilatation symmetry is broken and the divergence of the dilatation current is proportional to the topological mass of the gauge field.…
In this thesis Chern-Simons theories based on Lie algebras with invariant metric are constructed. It is discussed how contractions lead systematically to (higher spin) kinematical algebras of, e.g., Poincar\'e, Galilei and Carroll type and…
We study a symmetry-reduced sector of $AdS_3/\mathbb Z_2$ gravity formulated as an $SO(2,2)$ Chern--Simons theory on a 3D-manifold with toroidal boundary. The reduction is implemented by requiring a globally defined symmetry and restricting…
While general quantum field theories (QFTs) have yet to be rigorously defined in mathematics, they have generated new mathematics and have served as a unifying principle connecting different branches of the subject. In 1989, Witten made a…
A new class of N=2 locally supersymmetric higher-derivative invariants is constructed based on logarithms of conformal primary chiral superfields. They characteristically involve a coupling to R_{\mu\nu}^2 - 1/3*R^2, which equals the…
We describe the supersymmetric completion of several curvature-squared invariants for ${\cal N}=(1,0)$ supergravity in six dimensions. The construction of the invariants is based on a close interplay between superconformal tensor calculus…
We study Chern-Simons Gauge Theory in axial gauge on ${\mathbb R}^3.$ This theory has a quadratic Lagrangian and therefore expectations can be computed nonperturbatively by explicit formulas, giving an (unbounded) linear functional on a…
Two main themes populate this Thesis's pages: transgression forms as Lagrangians for gauge theories and the Abelian semigroup expansion of Lie algebras. A transgression form is a function of two gauge connections whose main property is its…
Recently was shown that standard odd and even-dimensional General Relativity can be obtained from a $(2n+1)$-dimensional Chern-Simons Lagrangian invariant under the $B_{2n+1}$ algebra and from a $(2n)$-dimensional Born-Infeld Lagrangian…
A gauge and diffeomorphism invariant theory in (2+1)-dimensions is presented in both first and second order Lagrangian form as well as in a Hamiltonian form. For gauge group $SO(1,2)$, the theory is shown to describe ordinary Einstein…
We construct a topological theory for euclidean gravity in four dimensions, by enforcing self-duality conditions on the spin connection. The corresponding topological symmetry is associated to the SU(2) X diffeomorphism X U(1) invariance.…
3d Chern-Simons gauge theory has a strong connection with 2d CFT and link invariants in knot theory. We impose some constraints on the $D(2|1;\alpha)$ CS theory in the similar context of the hamiltonian reduction of 2d superconformal…
The locally supersymmetric extension of the most general gravity theory in three dimensions leading to first order field equations for the vielbein and the spin connection is constructed. Apart from the Einstein-Hilbert term with…
This is a continuation of a programme, initiated in Part I [arXiv:1706.05682], of geometrisation, compatible with the SUSY present, of the Green-Schwarz $(p+2)$-cocycles coupling to the topological charges carried by $p$-branes on reductive…
We introduce a gauge and diffeomorphism invariant theory on the Yang-Mills phase space. The theory is well defined for an arbitrary gauge group with an invariant bilinear form, it contains only first class constraints, and the spacetime…
I present two calculations of the holographic Weyl anomalies induced by Chern-Simons gravity theories alternative to the ones presented in the literature. The calculations presented here rest on the extension from Chern-Simons to…