Related papers: The Diffeomorphism Field
We consider a modified gravity model which we call "dynamical Henneaux-Teitelboim gravity" because of its close relationship with the Henneaux-Teitelboim formulation of unimodular gravity. The latter is a fully diffeomorphism-invariant…
We introduce a gauge and diffeomorphism invariant theory on 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 metric…
Based on a family of indefinite unitary representations of the diffeomorphism group of an oriented smooth $4$-manifold, a manifestly covariant $4$ dimensional and non-perturbative algebraic quantum field theory formulation of gravity is…
We conjecture that $W$ gravity can be interpreted as the gauge theory of $\phi$ diffeomorphisms in the space of dimensionally-reduced $D=2+2$ $SU^*(\infty)$ Yang-Mills instantons. These $\phi$ diffeomorphisms preserve a volume-three form…
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…
In this work we use constructs from the dual space of the semi-direct product of the Virasoro algebra and the affine Lie algebra of a circle to write a theory of gravitation which is a natural analogue of Yang-Mills theory. The theory…
The polynomial affine gravity is an alternative model of gravity whose fundamental field is the affine connection, and it is invariant under the complete group of diffeomorphisms. In 3+1 dimensions the field equations generalise those of…
We consider a diffeomorphism invariant theory of a gauge field valued in a Lie algebra that breaks spontaneously to the direct sum of the spacetime Lorentz algebra, a Yang-Mills algebra, and their complement. Beginning with a fully gauge…
We address the role of large diffeomorphisms in Witten's 2+1 gravity on the manifold ${\bf R} \times T^2$. In a ``spacelike sector" quantum theory that treats the large diffeomorphisms as a symmetry, rather than as gauge, the Hilbert space…
It is generally believed that a full-fledged theory of quantum gravity should exhibit background independence and diffeomorphism invariance. In its most general form, the latter comprises field redefinitions, which are diffeomorphisms in…
Two sets of spatially diffeomorphism invariant operators are constructed in the loop representation formulation of quantum gravity. This is done by coupling general relativity to an anti- symmetric tensor gauge field and using that field to…
The geometric action of the semi-direct product of the Kac-Moody and Virasoro algebras contains the WZW action equipped with a background vector potential $A$ associated to a coadjoint element of the Kac-Moody algebra as well as the 2D…
It is well known that the Einstein-Hilbert action in two dimensions is topological and yields an identically vanishing Einstein tensor. Consequently one is faced with difficulties when formulating a non-trivial gravity model. We present a…
We show that the phase space of three-dimensional gravity contains two layers of dualities: between diffeomorphisms and a notion of "dual diffeomorphisms" on the one hand, and between first order curvature and torsion on the other hand.…
For a field theory that is invariant under diffeomorphisms there is a subtle interplay between symmetries, conservation laws and the phase space of the theory. The natural language for describing these ideas is that of differential forms…
Explicit breaking of diffeomorphism symmetry with nondynamical background fields in gravitational theories can lead to inconsistencies between the equations of motion and the underlying pseudo-Riemannian geometry. These theories produce a…
The group of diffeomorphisms of a circle is not an infinite-dimensional algebraic group, though in many ways it behaves as if it were. Here we construct an algebraic model for this object, and discuss some of its representations, which…
The quantum theory of a massless spin two particle is strongly constrained by diffeomorphism invariance, which is in turn implied by unitarity. We explicitly exhibit the space-time diffeomorphism algebra of string theory, realizing it in…
We discuss two scenarios of emergent gravity. In one of them the quantum vacuum is considered as superplastic crystal, and the effective gravity describes the dynamical elastic deformations of this crystal. In the other one the…
A deformation of the algebra of diffeomorphisms is constructed for canonically deformed spaces with constant deformation parameter theta. The algebraic relations remain the same, whereas the comultiplication rule (Leibniz rule) is different…