Related papers: Twisted N=2 Supergravity as Topological Gravity in…
We spell out the derivation of novel features, put forward earlier in a letter, of two dimensional gravity in the strong coupling regime, at $C_L=7$, 13, 19. Within the operator approach previously developed, they neatly follow from the…
An alternative to usual dimensional reduction for gravity is analyzed, in the vielbein-spin connection formulation. Usual 4d Einstein gravity plus a topological term (the "Born-Infeld" Lagrangian for gravity), is shown to be obtained by a…
We find that the recently-proposed ghost-free interaction of a 2-form gauge field in four dimensions, which contains derivative couplings in a nonperturbative manner, can be regarded as a resummation of ghostly interaction terms. We…
A classical two dimensional theory of gravity which has a number of interesting features (including a Newtonian limit, black holes and gravitational collapse) is quantized using conformal field theoretic techniques. The critical dimension…
In this Thesis we study first- and second-quantized approaches describing $D=11$ supergravity using pure spinor variables. We introduce the so-called $D=11$ pure spinor superparticle through BRST cohomology arguments starting from the…
The local BRST cohomology is computed in old and new minimal supergravity, including the coupling to Yang-Mills gauge multiplets. This covers the determination of all gauge invariant local actions for these models, the classification of all…
A model of topological field theory is presented in which the vacuum coupling constants are topological invariants of the four-dimensional spacetime. Thus the coupling constants are theoretically computable, and they indicate the…
This is the second in a series of papers which consider the orbifolds of permutation-type as candidates for new physical string systems at higher central charge. In the first paper, I worked out the extended actions of the twisted sectors…
We consider (effective) Quantum General Relativity coupled to the Standard Model (QGR-SM) and clarify whether graviton-ghosts couple to matter particles. To this end, we examine the corresponding BRST and anti-BRST symmetries, which are…
We provide a linearised superfield description of the exotic non-metric $N=(4,0)$ supergravity in $D=6$, by using a pure spinor superfield formalism. The basic field $\Psi$ is a ghost number 2 scalar, transforming in the same R-symmetry…
We present the gauged N=4 (half-maximal) supergravities in four and five spacetime dimensions coupled to an arbitrary number of vector multiplets. The gaugings are parameterized by a set of appropriately constrained constant tensors, which…
Type II supergravity on backgrounds admitting SU(3) x SU(3) structure and general fluxes is considered. Using the generalized geometry formalism, we study dimensional reductions leading to N=2 gauged supergravity in four dimensions,…
We construct a new $N=4$ non-semisimple gauged supergravity in three dimensions with $E_{6(2)}/SU(6)\times SU(2)$ scalar manifold and $SO(4)\ltimes \mathbf{T}^6$ gauge group. Depending on the values of the gauge coupling constants, the…
The recent observational data in cosmology seem to indicate that the universe is currently expanding in an accelerated way. An intriguing interpretation of these data is that they may just be signalling that Einstein's General Relativity is…
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…
The $\cal{N}=4$ supersymmetric spinning particle admits several consistent quantizations, related to the gauging of different subgroups of the $SO(4)$ $R$-symmetry on the worldline. We construct the background independent BRST quantization…
We present a new development in our approach to the covariant quantization of superstrings in 10 dimensions which is based on a gauged WZNW model. To incorporate worldsheet diffeomorphisms we need the quartet of ghosts $(b_{zz},c^{z},…
In the last years higher dimensional physics has won importance. Despite the Superstrings, higher dimensional effects, in measurable scales of energy (some TeV), became only possible with Randall-Sundrum's models (RS). In particular, recent…
We show that $N=8$ {\it self-dual} supergravity theory, which is the consistent background for $N=2$ closed superstring theory in $2+2\-$dimensions, can accommodate the recently discovered two-dimensional dilaton gravity black hole…
We investigate the localization of four-dimensional metastable gravity in supersymmetric dilatonic domain walls through massive modes by considering several scenarios in the model. We compute corrections to the Newtonian potential for small…