Related papers: Connecting Through Obstruction; Relating Gauge Gra…
String compactifications with T-duality twists are revisited and the gauge algebra of the dimensionally reduced theories calculated. These reductions can be viewed as string theory on T-fold backgrounds, and can be formulated in a `doubled…
Motivated by the problem of constructing explicit geometric string structures, we give a rigid model for bundle 2-gerbes, and define connective structures thereon. This model is designed to make explicit calculations easier in applications…
The search for a geometrical understanding of dualities in string theory, in particular T-duality, has led to the development of modern T-duality covariant frameworks such as Double Field Theory, whose mathematical structure can be…
We propose a step-by-step manual for the construction of alternative theories of gravity, perturbatively as well as nonperturbatively. The construction is guided by no more than two fundamental principles that we impose on the gravitational…
Basic notions of Dirac theory of constrained systems have their analogs in differential geometry. Combination of the two approaches gives more clear understanding of both classical and quantum mechanics, when we deal with a model with…
The purpose of this paper is to present a generalized hole argument for gauge field theories and their geometrical setting in terms of fiber bundles. The generalized hole argument is motivated and extended from the spacetime hole arguments…
This is intended as a broad introduction to Chern-Simons gravity and supergravity. The motivation for these theories lies in the desire to have a gauge invariant system --with a fiber bundle formulation-- in more than three dimensions,…
In an on-shell conformal field theory approach, we find indications of a three-bracket structure for target space coordinates in general closed string backgrounds. This generalizes the appearance of noncommutative gauge theories for open…
We develop a generalized projective gauge theory of gravity and spinorial matter, incorporating both non-metricity and torsion. The work is divided into three parts. Part I provides a thorough review of General Relativity, Metric-Affine…
These lectures are intended as a broad introduction to Chern Simons gravity and supergravity. The motivation for these theories lies in the desire to have a gauge invariant action -in the sense of fiber bundles- in more than three…
The fundamental ideas and tools of the global geometric formulation of stress and hyper-stress theory of continuum mechanics are introduced. The proposed framework is the infinite dimensional counterpart of statics of systems having finite…
In this thesis we study string compactifications on manifolds equipped with a $G$-structure, placing a special emphasis on the interplay between geometry and physics. We follow two complementary approaches. In the first part of the thesis…
Starting from a general analysis of obstruction classes, we develop the investigation of obstructions associated with the bundle structure of the hyperbolic Clifford algebra. By taking into account particularities arising from the Whitney…
We consider the conformal group of a space of dim n=p+q, with SO(p,q) metric. The quotient of this group by its homogeneous Weyl subgroup gives a principal fiber bundle with 2n-dim base manifold and Weyl fibers. The Cartan generalization to…
It is widely believed that consistent theories of quantum gravity satisfy two basic kinematic constraints: they are free from any global symmetry, and they contain a complete spectrum of gauge charges. For compact, abelian gauge groups,…
We show that general relativity can be viewed as a higher gauge theory involving a categorical group, or 2-group, called the teleparallel 2-group. On any semi-Riemannian manifold M, we first construct a principal 2-bundle with the Poincare…
Caianiello's derivation of Quantum Geometry through an isometric embedding of the spacetime ({\bf M},\tilde{g}) in the pseudo-Riemannian structure ({\bf T^*M},g^*_{AB}) is reconsidered. In the new derivation, a non-linear connection and the…
In the gauge theoretic approach of gravity, General Relativity is described by gauging the symmetry of the tangent manifold in four dimensions. Usually the dimension of the tangent space is considered to be equal to the dimension of the…
In six dimensions, cancellation of gauge, gravitational, and mixed anomalies strongly constrains the set of quantum field theories which can be coupled consistently to gravity. We show that for some classes of six-dimensional supersymmetric…
A gauge theory is associated with a principal bundle endowed with a connection permitting to define horizontal lifts of paths. The horizontal lifts of surfaces cannot be defined into a principal bundle structure. An higher gauge theory is…