Related papers: Non-compact nonlinear sigma models

We present a novel way to constrain the ghost field with respect to other physical fields present in a given theory such that the theory becomes quantizable. This is achieved by imposing positivity of the total kinetic energy of the system…

We have found for the general class of Modified Gravity Models f(R,G) a new instability which can arise in vacuum for the scalar modes of the cosmological perturbations if the background is not de Sitter. In particular, the short-wavelength…

The symmetric space sine-Gordon models arise by conformal reduction of ordinary 2-dim $\sigma$-models, and they are integrable exhibiting a black-hole type metric in target space. We provide a Lagrangian formulation of these systems by…

In the presence of spontaneous symmetry breaking, the alignment of the vacuum with respect to the gauge group is often controlled by quadratically divergent operators in the low energy non-linear sigma model. In principle the magnitudes and…

Dimensional reduction in two dimensions of gravity in higher dimension, or more generally of d=3 gravity coupled to a sigma-model on a symmetric space, is known to possess an infinite number of symmetries. We show that such a bidimensional…

We consider a class of modified gravity models where the terms added to the standard Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian are just a function of the metric only. For linearized perturbations around an isotropic space-time, this class of models is…

We have recently introduced a discrete model of Lorentzian quantum gravity, given as a regularized non-perturbative state sum over simplicial Lorentzian space-times, each possessing a unique Wick rotation to Euclidean signature. We…

We provide a systematic and updated discussion of a research line carried out by our group over the last few years, in which gravity is modified at cosmological distances by the introduction of nonlocal terms, assumed to emerge at an…

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…

Gauged linear sigma models with (0,2) supersymmetry allow a larger choice of couplings than models with (2,2) supersymmetry. We use this freedom to find a fully linear construction of torsional heterotic compactifications, including models…

In the recently proposed non-local theory of quantum gravity one can avoid massive tensor ghosts at the tree level by a special choice of the non-local form factor between the two Ricci tensors. We show that at the quantum level this theory…

A new Lorentz-covariant gauge is presented for SU(3). In this gauge, both the ghosts and the gauge fields in the (4, 5, 6, 7) gauge directions acquire half-integral spin. As a result, the ghosts in these directions have the correct…

In this paper we consider pseudo-Riemannian spaces of arbitrary signature for which all of the polynomial curvature invariants vanish (VSI spaces). Using an algebraic classification of pseudo-Riemannian spaces in terms of the boost-weight…

We analyze the moduli space of spontaneously broken N=8 supergravity theories in 4 dimensions with classical Minkowski vacua. We find that all the known classical vacua, as well as the several new ones we construct here, can be connected by…

The definition of a positive energy is investigated in a renormalizable 4-dimensional generally covariant model, which depends on the lorentzian complex structure and not the metric of spacetime. The gravitational content of the lorentzian…

Near the singularity, gravity should be modified to an effective theory, in the same sense as with the Euler-Heisenberg electrodynamics. This effective gravity surmounts to higher derivative theory, and as is well known, a much more reacher…

We extend the notion of the Higuchi bound and partial masslessness to ghost-free nonlinear bimetric theories. This can be achieved in a simple way by first considering linear massive spin-2 perturbations around maximally symmetric…

A master equation expressing the classical integrability of two-dimensional non-linear sigma models is found. The geometrical properties of this equation are outlined. In particular, a closer connection between integrability and T-duality…

We consider 4-dimensional spacetime manifolds that are piecewise Lorentzian, where the Lorentzian components of the manifold are separated by codimension-one planes (spacelike or timelike) on which the metric is degenerate. Such manifolds…

Many theories of modified gravity with higher order derivatives are usually ignored because of serious problems that appear due to an additional ghost degree of freedom. Most dangerously, it causes an immediate decay of the vacuum. However,…