Related papers: A Topological Model for Two Dimensional Gravity Co…
We discuss how Moyal deformations of gauge theories, which arise naturally from open string theory, fit into the paradigm of colour-kinematics duality and the double copy of gauge theory to gravity. Along the way we encounter novel…
It is well known that three-dimensional Einstein's gravity without matter is topological, i.e. it does not have local propagating degrees of freedom. The main result of this work is to show that dynamics in the gravitational sector can be…
We derive curvature counterterms in two-dimensional gravity coupled to conformal matter up to infinite order. By construction the higher-order action is equivalent to a finite first-order theory with auxiliary scalar. Due to this…
Einstein Gravity in 2+1 dimensions arises as a consequence of the equations of motion of a gauge model in an external metric. Newton's constant appears as an order parameter of a spontaneously broken discrete symmetry. Matter is coupled in…
We present a formulation of gravity in terms of a theory based on complex SU(2) gauge fields with a general coordinate invariant action functional quadratic in the field strength. Self-duality or anti-self-duality of the field strength…
We examine the relationship between covariant and canonical (Ashtekar/Rovelli/Smolin) loop variables in the context of BF type topological field theories in 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions, with respective gauge groups SO(2,1) and SO(3,1). The…
A gauge and diffeomorphism invariant theory in (2+1)-dimensions is presented in both first and second order Lagrangian form as well as in a Hamiltonian form. For gauge group $SO(1,2)$, the theory is shown to describe ordinary Einstein…
The four-dimensional gauge group of general relativity corresponds to arbitrary coordinate transformations on a four-manifold. Theories of gravity with a dynamical structure remarkably like Einstein's theory can be obtained on the basis of…
Starting with the MacDowell-Mansouri formulation of gravity with a $SO(4,1)$ gauge group, we introduce new parameters into the action to include the non-dynamical Holst term, and the topological Nieh-Yan and Pontryagin classes. Then, we…
We consider the coupling of scalar topological matter to (2+1)-dimensional gravity. The matter fields consist of a 0-form scalar field and a 2-form tensor field. We carry out a canonical analysis of the classical theory, investigating its…
A model of matter-coupled gravity in two dimensions is quantized. The crucial requirement for performing the quantization is the vanishing of the conformal anomaly, which is achieved by tuning a parameter in the interaction potential. The…
We construct a class of spin foam models describing matter coupled to gravity, such that the gravitational sector is described by the unitary irreducible representations of the appropriate symmetry group, while the matter sector is…
We consider a model of modified gravity based on the spectral action functional, for a cosmic topology given by a spherical space form, and the associated slow-roll inflation scenario. We consider then the coupling of gravity to matter…
We consider alternative theories of gravity with a direct coupling between matter and the Ricci scalar We study the relation between these theories and ordinary scalar-tensor gravity, or scalar-tensor theories which include non-standard…
In this proceeding, we review modified theories of gravity with a curvature-matter coupling between an arbitrary function of the scalar curvature and the Lagrangian density of matter. This explicit nonminimal coupling induces a…
We present a self-contained analysis of theories of discrete 2D gravity coupled to matter, using geometric methods to derive equations for generating functions in terms of free (noncommuting) variables. For the class of discrete gravity…
A first-order formulation of gravity is developed in which the fundamental fields consist of an SL(2,C) connection and two spinor-valued 1-forms. It is shown that the first term of an expansion of the Einstein-Hilbert action leads to an…
Two-dimensional matterless dilaton gravity is a topological theory and can be classically reduced to a (0+1)-dimensional theory with a finite number of degrees of freedom. If quantization is performed, a simple gauge invariant quantum…
We propose a step-by-step manual for the construction of alternative theories of gravity, perturbatively as well as nonperturbatively. The construction is guided by no more than two fundamental principles that we impose on the gravitational…
We propose a topological model of induced gravity (pregeometry) where both Newton's coupling constant and the cosmological constant appear as integration constants in solving field equations. The matter sector of a scalar field is also…