Related papers: Gauge connection formulations for general relativi…
General Relativity can be reformulated as a diffeomorphism invariant SU(2) gauge theory. A new action principle for this "pure connection" formulation of GR is described.
We formulate a topological theory in six dimensions with gauge group SO(3,3) which reduces to gravity on a four dimensional defect if suitable boundary conditions are chosen. In such a framework we implement the reflection automorphism of…
We show that the Horava theory for the completion of General Relativity at UV scales can be interpreted as a gauge fixed theory, and it can be extended to an invariant theory under the full group of four-dimensional diffeomorphisms. In this…
In this paper noncommutative gravity is constructed as a gauge theory of the noncommutative SO(2,3) group, while the noncommutativity is canonical (constant). The Seiberg-Witten map is used to express noncommutative fields in terms of the…
This letter is a critique of Barbero's constrained Hamiltonian formulation of General Relativity on which current work in Loop Quantum Gravity is based. While we do not dispute the correctness of Barbero's formulation of general relativity,…
We analyze the constraints of general coordinate invariance for quantum theories possessing conformal symmetry in four dimensions. The character of these constraints simplifies enormously on the Einstein universe $R \times S^3$. The…
We show in this paper that it is possible to formulate General Relativity in a phase space coordinatized by two $SO(3)$ connections. We analyze first the Husain-Kucha\v{r} model and find a two connection description for it. Introducing a…
Loop Quantum Gravity heavily relies on a connection formulation of General Relativity such that 1. the connection Poisson commutes with itself and 2. the corresponding gauge group is compact. This can be achieved starting from the Palatini…
We study cosmological perturbations of self-accelerating universe solutions in the recently proposed nonlinear theory of massive gravity, with general matter content. While the broken diffeomorphism invariance implies that there generically…
When formulated in terms of connection and coframes, and in the time gauge, the phase space of general relativity consists of a pair of conjugate fields: the flux 2-form and the Ashtekar connection. On this phase-space, one has to impose…
The configuration space of general relativity is superspace - the space of all Riemannian 3-metrics modulo diffeomorphisms. However, it has been argued that the configuration space for gravity should be conformal superspace - the space of…
We study the Hamiltonian formulation of the general first order action of general relativity compatible with local Lorentz invariance and background independence. The most general simplectic structure (compatible with diffeomorphism…
It might seem that a choice of a time coordinate in Hamiltonian formulations of general relativity breaks the full four-dimensional diffeomorphism covariance of the theory. This is not the case. We construct explicitly the complete set of…
I show in this letter that it is possible to construct a Hamiltonian description for Lorentzian General Relativity in terms of two real $SO(3)$ connections. The constraints are simple polynomials in the basic variables. The present…
We consider general relativity with a cosmological constant as a perturbative expansion around a completely solvable diffeomorphism invariant field theory. This theory is the $\Lambda\to\infty$ limit of general relativity. This allows an…
General Relativity is usually formulated as a theory with gauge invariance under the diffeomorphism group, but there is a 'dilaton' formulation where it is in addition invariant under Weyl transformations, and a 'unimodular' formulation…
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…
We derive a canonical analysis of a double null 2+2 Hamiltonian description of General Relativity in terms of complex self-dual 2-forms and the associated SO(3) connection variables. The algebra of first class constraints is obtained and…
The Plebanski formulation of complex general relativity is given in terms of variables valued in the complexification of the $so(3)$ Lie algebra. Therefore, it is genuinely a gauge theory that is also diffeomorphism-invariant. For this…
An action principle is presented for Vasiliev's Bosonic higher spin gauge theory in four spacetime dimensions. The action is of the form of a broken topological field theory, and arises by an extension of the MacDowell-Mansouri formulation…