Related papers: Using 3D Stringy Gravity to Understand the Thursto…
We show that the incompressible Euler equations in three spatial dimensions can be expressed in terms of an abelian gauge theory with a topological BF term. A crucial part of the theory is a 3-form field strength, which is dual to a…
We describe a new first-order formulation of D=11 supergravity which shows that that theory can be understood to arise from a certain topological field theory by the imposition of a set of local constraints on the fields, plus a lagrange…
We prove results relating the theory of optimal transport and generalized Ricci flow. We define an adapted cost functional for measures using a solution of the associated dilaton flow. This determines a formal notion of geodesics in the…
Several problems in physics, in particular the averaging problem in gravity, can be described in a formalism derived from the real-space Renormalization Group (RG) methods. It is shown that the RG flow is provided by the Ricci-Hamilton…
The Ricci flow is a natural evolution equation for Riemannian metrics on a given manifold. The main goal is to understand singularity formation. In his spectacular 2002 breakthrough, Perelman achieved a qualitative understanding of…
We give a brief summary of some of our work and our joint work with Stephan Tillmann on solving Thurston's equation and Haken equation on triangulated 3-manifolds in this paper. Several conjectures on the existence of solutions to…
The main objective of this thesis is the study of the evolution under the Ricci flow of surfaces with singularities of cone type. A second objective, emerged from the techniques we use, is the study of families of Ricci flow solitons in…
We present a new application of Boundary String Field Theory: calculating the induced-gravity action on a D-brane. Using a simple quadratic tachyon potential to model a D-brane fluctuating in the flat target space we derive the effective…
We propose the use of lattice field theory for the study of string field theory at the non-perturbative quantum level. We identify many potential obstacles and examine possible resolutions thereof. We then experiment with our approach in…
We consider N=2 supergravity in four dimensions, coupled to an arbitrary number of vector- and hypermultiplets, where abelian isometries of the quaternionic hyperscalar target manifold are gauged. Using a static and spherically or…
In this work we present the minimal supersymmetric extension of the five-dimensional dilaton-gravity theory that captures the main properties of the holographic dual of little string theory. It is described by a particular gauging of…
The $q$-deformed loop gravity framework was introduced as a canonical formalism for the Turaev-Viro model (with $\Lambda < 0$), allowing to quantize 3D Euclidean gravity with a (negative) cosmological constant using a quantum deformation of…
The title of this article refers to analytic continuation of three-dimensional Chern-Simons gauge theory away from integer values of the usual coupling parameter k, to explore questions such as the volume conjecture, or analytic…
In this semi-technical review we discuss string theory (and all that goes by that name) as a framework for a quantum theory of gravity. This is a new paradigm in theoretical physics that goes beyond relativistic quantum field theory. We…
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…
Geometrization says `` any closed oriented three-manifold which is prime (not a connected sum) carries one of the eight Thurston geometries OR it has incompressible torus walls whose complementary components each carry one of four…
We discuss two dimensional N-extended supersymmetry in Euclidean signature and its R-symmetry. For N=2, the R-symmetry is SO(2)\times SO(1,1), so that only an A-twist is possible. To formulate a B-twist, or to construct Euclidean N=2 models…
The actions of the ``$R=T$'' and string-inspired theories of gravity in (1+1) dimensions are generalized into one single action which is characterized by two functions. We discuss differing interpretations of the matter stress-energy…
We construct new seven-dimensional gravity by adding two topological terms to the Einstein-Hilbert action. For certain choice of the coupling constants, these terms may be related to the R^4 correction to the 3-form field equation of…
Orbifolds in field theory are potentially singular objects for at their fixed points the curvature becomes infinite, therefore one may wonder whether field theory calculations near orbifold singularities can be trusted. String theory is…