Related papers: Six Dimensional Topological Gravity and the Cosmol…
Starting from a topological gauge theory in two dimensions with symmetry groups $ISO(2,1)$, $SO(2,1)$ and $SO(1,2)$ we construct a model for gravity with non-trivial coupling to matter. We discuss the equations of motion which are connected…
A gauge theory of gravity is defined in 6 dimensional non-commutative space-time. The gauge group is the unitary group U(2,2), which contains the homogeneous Lorentz group, SO(4,2), in 6 dimensions as a subgroup. It is shown that, after the…
We present a metric solution in six dimensions where gravity is localized on a four-dimensional singular string-like defect. The corrections to four-dimensional gravity from the bulk continuum modes are suppressed by ${\cal O}(1/r^3)$. No…
Group theory indicates the existence of a $SO(8) X SO(7) \subset SO(16)$ invariant self-duality equation for a 3-form in 16 dimensions. It is a signal for interesting topological field theories, especially on 8-dimensional manifolds with…
Supergravity theories in more than four dimensions with grand unified gauge symmetries are an important intermediate step towards the ultraviolet completion of the Standard Model in string theory. Using toric geometry, we classify and…
Five dimensional Chern-Simons theory with (anti-)de Sitter SO(1,5) or SO(2,4) gauge invariance presents an alternative to General Relativity with cosmological constant. We consider the zero-modes of its Kaluza-Klein compactification to four…
We investigate warped compactification with an abelian gauge theory in six dimensions. The vanishing cosmological constant in four dimensions can generically be realized with a regular metric even in a 3-brane background without fine tuning…
Recent work by physicists on gravity in two dimensions has a natural generalization to four dimensions, formulated in terms of an analogue of Segal's category [defined for the study of conformal field theory].
The configuration space of general relativity is superspace - the space of all Riemannian 3-metrics modulo diffeomorphisms. However, it has been argued that the configuration space for gravity should be conformal superspace - the space of…
We investigate the cosmology of SO(3)-invariant massive gravity with 5 degrees of freedom. In contrast with previous studies, we allow for a non-trivial fiducial metric, which can be justified by invoking, for example, a dilaton-like global…
We propose a gravitation theory in 4 dimensional space-time obtained by compacting to 4 dimensions the five dimensional topological Chern-Simons theory with the gauge group SO(1,5) or SO(2,4) -- the de Sitter or anti-de Sitter group of…
The free (4,0) superconformal theory in 6 dimensions and its toroidal dimensional reductions are studied. The reduction to four dimensions on a 2-torus has an $SL(2,\Z)$ duality symmetry that acts non-trivially on the linearised gravity…
Four-dimensional gravity admits many equivalent formulations - metric, Einstein-Cartan, teleparallel, McDowell-Mansouri, among others - each offering distinct advantages, particularly, in view of quantization. We propose a new formulation…
In an odd-dimensional spacetime, gravity can be formulated as a proper gauge theory based on the Chern-Simons action for a suitable gauge group. Performing dimensional reduction, one obtains, as an effective theory, Chamseddine's…
We consider a theory of gravity with a hidden extra-dimension and metric-dependent torsion. A set of physically motivated constraints are imposed on the geometry so that the torsion stays confined to the extra-dimension and the…
We argue that, when a theory of gravity and matter is endowed with (classical) conformal symmetry, the fine tuning required to obtain the cosmological constant at its observed value can be significantly reduced. Once tuned, the cosmological…
Recently a scale invariant theory of gravity was constructed by imposing a conformal symmetry on general relativity. The imposition of this symmetry changed the configuration space from superspace - the space of all Riemannian 3-metrics…
In three spacetime dimensions, general relativity becomes a topological field theory, whose dynamics can be largely described holographically by a two-dimensional conformal field theory at the ``boundary'' of spacetime. I review what is…
We consider a Yang-Mills type gauge theory of gravity based on the conformal group SO(4,2) coupled to a conformally invariant real scalar field. The goal is to generate fundamental dimensional constants via spontaneous breakdown of the…
A central aspect of the cosmological constant problem is to understand why vacuum energy does not gravitate. In order to account for this observation, while allowing for nontrivial dynamics of the quantum vacuum, we motivate a novel…