Related papers: Topological 4D gravity and gravitational defects

Generalising the chiral boundary conditions of $\mathbb{R}^{1,3}$ gravity for AdS$_4$ gravity, we derive chiral locally AdS$_4$ solutions in the Newman-Unti gauge consistent with a variational principle whose asymptotic symmetry algebra we…

We propose a mechanism that couples matter fields to three-dimensional quantum gravity, which can be used for theories with a positive or negative cosmological constant. Our proposal is rooted in the Chern-Simons formulation of…

Gravitons naturally acquire topological masses in the 3d topologically massive gravity (TMG) theory that includes the gravitational Chern-Simons term. We present a Weyl-transformed TMG (WTMG) formulation by introducing an unphysical dilaton…

We classify and study defects in 2d Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity. We show these are holographically described by a deformation of the Schwarzian theory where the reparametrization mode is integrated over different coadjoint orbits of the…

We study the renormalizable quantum gravity formulated as a perturbed theory from conformal field theory (CFT) on the basis of conformal gravity in four dimensions. The conformal mode in the metric field is managed non-perturbatively…

We consider the role of N=4 conformal supergravity in the relation between N=4 SYM theory and D=5 gauged supergravity expanded near the Anti de Sitter background. We discuss the structure of the SYM effective action in conformal…

Einsteinian cubic gravity provides a holographic toy model of a nonsupersymmetric CFT in three dimensions, analogous to the one defined by Quasi-topological gravity in four. The theory admits explicit non-hairy AdS$_4$ black holes and…

Quasi-topological gravity is a new gravitational theory including curvature-cubed interactions and for which exact black hole solutions were constructed. In a holographic framework, classical quasi-topological gravity can be thought to be…

We perform a consistent reduction of 6d matter-coupled F(4) supergravity on a compact Riemann surface $\Sigma_\mathfrak{g}$ of genus $\mathfrak{g}$, at the level of the bosonic action. The result is an $\mathcal{N}=2$ gauged supergravity…

We recast the action principle of four dimensional General Relativity so that it becomes amenable for perturbation theory which doesn't break general covariance. The coupling constant becomes dimensionless (G_{Newton} \Lambda) and extremely…

Chern-Simons AdS supergravity theories are gauge theories for the super-AdS group. These theories possess a fermionic symmetry which differs from standard supersymmetry. In this paper, we study five-dimensional Chern-Simons AdS supergravity…

We investigate a formulation of continuum 4d gravity in terms of a constrained topological (BF) theory, in the spirit of the Plebanski formulation, but involving only linear constraints, of the type used recently in the spin foam approach…

We consider topological closed string theories on Calabi-Yau manifolds which compute superpotential terms in the corresponding compactified type II effective action. In particular, near certain singularities we compare the partition…

The topological classification of critical points of black holes in 4D Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity coupled to Born-Infeld theory is investigated. Considered independently, Born-infeld corrections to the Einstein action alter the…

It is shown that an action inspired from a BF and Chern-Simons model, based on the $AdS_4$ isometry group SO(3, 2), with the inclusion of a Higgs potential term, furnishes the MacDowell-Mansouri-Chamseddine-West action for gravity, with a…

We demonstrate that generic two-dimensional Horndeski theories can arise from the reduction of pure gravities in $d \geq 4$ dimensions, and therefore generic onshell configurations for the two-dimensional metric and scalar field correspond…

We derive the supersymmetric structure present in W-gravities which has been already observed in various contexts as Yang-Mills theory, topological field theories, bosonic string and chiral W_{3}-gravity. This derivation which is made in…

Topological duality defects arise as codimension one generalized symmetry operators in quantum field theories (QFTs) with a duality symmetry. Recent investigations have shown that in the case of 4D $\mathcal{N} = 4$ Super Yang-Mills (SYM)…

Higher dimensional Chern-Simons theories, even though constructed along the same topological pattern as in 2+1 dimensions, have been shown recently to have generically a non-vanishing number of degrees of freedom. In this paper, we carry…

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…