Related papers: $D=6$, $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ and $\mathcal{N}=(4,0)$…
We study N=1,2,4 higher spin superalgebras in four dimensions and higher spin gauge theories based on them. We extend the existing minimal N=2,4 theories and find a minimal N=1 theory. Utilizing the basic structure of the minimal N=8…
We show that the partition function of free Maxwell theory on a generic Euclidean four-manifold transforms in a non-trivial way under electric-magnetic duality. The classical part of the partition sum can be mapped onto the genus-one…
We reconsider a gauge theory of gravity in which the gauge group is the conformal group SO(4,2) and the action is of the Yang-Mills form, quadratic in the curvature. The resulting gravitational theory exhibits local conformal symmetry and…
We consider classes of T_6 orientifolds, where the orientifold projection contains an inversion I_{9-p} on 9-p coordinates, transverse to a Dp-brane. In absence of fluxes, the massless sector of these models corresponds to diverse forms of…
We discuss the (dual-)gauge transformations and BRST cohomology for the two (1 + 1)-dimensional (2D) free Abelian one-form and four (3 + 1)-dimensional (4D) free Abelian 2-form gauge theories by exploiting the (co-)BRST symmetries (and…
We propose a gauge theory of gravitation. The gauge potential is a connection of the Super SL(2,C) group. A MacDowell-Mansouri type of action is proposed where the action is quadratic in the Super SL(2,C) curvature and depends purely on…
We review some applications of tree-level (classical) relations between gravity and gauge theory that follow from string theory. Together with $D$-dimensional unitarity, these relations can be used to perturbatively quantize gravity…
The Maxwell algebra is the result of enlarging the Poincar\'{e} algebra by six additional tensorial Abelian generators that make the fourmomenta non-commutative. We present a local gauge theory based on the Maxwell algebra with vierbein,…
We derive the Lagrangian and the transformation laws of N=4 gauged supergravity coupled to matter multiplets whose sigma-model of the scalars is SU(1,1)/U(1)x SO(6,6+n)/SO(6)xSO(6+n) and which corresponds to the effective Lagrangian of the…
A scalar field theory with 4-derivative kinetic terms and 4-derivative cubic and quartic couplings is presented as a proxy for quantum quadratic gravity (QQG). The scalar theory is renormalizable and asymptotically free and the remaining…
We show that, when compactified on a circle, N=(2,0),d=6 supergravity coupled to 1 tensor multiplet and nV vector multiplets is dual to N=(2,0),d=6 supergravity coupled to just nT=nV+1 tensor multiplets and no vector multiplets. Both…
An unusual four-dimensional generally covariant and supersymmetric SU(2) gauge theory is described. The theory has propagating degrees of freedom, and is invariant under a local (left-handed) chiral supersymmetry, which is half the…
We construct a class of nonabelian superconformal (1,0) hypermultiplet theories in six dimensions by introducing an abelian auxiliary field. The gauge fields of this class of theories are non-dynamical, and this class of theories can be…
The generalised-geometric formulation of 10-dimensional supergravity suggests a particular simple "limit", which results in a theory whose only dynamical degrees of freedom are the dilaton and the dilatino. The theory is still invariant…
We find a new family of supersymmetric vacuum solutions in the six-dimensional chiral gauged N=(1,0) supergravity theory. They are generically of the form AdS_3 x S^3, where the 3-sphere is squashed homogeneously along its Hopf fibres. The…
We study supersymmetric $SU(N-4)$ gauge theories with a symmetric tensor and $N$ antifundamental representations. The theory with $W=0$ has a dual description in terms of a non-chiral $Spin(8)$ theory with one spinor and $N$ vectors. This…
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,…
This is the 11th article in the collection of reviews "Exact results in N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories", ed. J. Teschner. It describes an approach to understanding the 4d/2d relations discovered by Alday, Gaiotto and Tachikawa by…
In general terms duality consists of two descriptions of one physical system by using degrees of freedom of different nature. There are different kinds of dualities and they have been extremely useful to uncover the underlying strong…
We construct a U(1) gerbe with a connection over a finite-dimensional, classical phase space P. The connection is given by a triple of forms A,B,H: a potential 1-form A, a Neveu-Schwarz potential 2-form B, and a field-strength 3-form H=dB.…