Related papers: General Covariance and Free Fields in Two Dimensio…
The two-dimensional theory of gravity describing a graviton-dilaton system is considered. The graviton-dilaton coupling can be fixed such that the quantum theory remains free of the conformal anomaly for any conformal dimension of the…
We discuss the quantum theory of 1+1 dimensional dilaton gravity, which is an interesting model with analogous features to the spherically symmetric gravitational systems in 3+1 dimensions. The functional measures over the metrics and the…
We recast the action of pure gravity into a form that is invariant under a twofold Lorentz symmetry. To derive this representation, we construct a general parameterization of all theories equivalent to the Einstein-Hilbert action up to a…
In this thesis special emphasis is put on the quantization of the spherically reduced Einstein-massless-Klein-Gordon model using a first order approach for geometric quantities, because phenomenologically it is probably the most relevant of…
In general relativity, the double null foliation is one for which $d$-dimensional spacetime is foliated by two families of intersecting null hyper surfaces (i.e. surfaces whose normal vectors are null) of $(d-1)$ dimensions. Their…
It has recently been shown that $f(T)$ gravity has $\frac{n(n-3)}{2}+1$ physical degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) in $n$ dimensions, contrary to previous claims. The simplest physical interpretation of this fact is that the theory possesses a…
We establish a correspondence between higher-derivative gravitational scalar-tensor theories of the form $\Psi(R,(\nabla R)^2,\Box R)$ and generalized hybrid metric-Palatini models $f(R,\mathcal{R})$. Restricting to the physically relevant…
In second-order scalar-tensor theories we study how the Vainshtein mechanism works in a spherically symmetric background with a matter source. In the presence of the field coupling $F(\phi)=e^{-2Q\phi}$ with the Ricci scalar $R$ we…
We propose and quantize a local, covariant gauge-field action that unifies the description of all free helicity and continuous-spin degrees of freedom in a simple manner. This is the first field-theory action of any kind for continuous spin…
We examine effective field theories (EFTs) with a continuum sector in the presence of gravity. We first explain, via arguments based on central charge and species scale, that an EFT with a free continuum cannot consistently couple to…
We show that the action of Einstein's gravity with a scalar field coupled in a generic way to spacetime curvature is invariant under a particular set of conformal transformations. These transformations relate dual theories for which the…
We perform the manifestly covariant quantization of a scale invariant gravity with a scalar field, which is equivalent to the well-known Brans-Dicke gravity via a field redefinition of the scalar field, in the de Donder gauge condition (or…
Within the framework of Einstein-Cartan gravity we consider an action, containing up to quadratic terms of the Ricci scalar and the Holst invariant, coupled non-minimally to a scalar field, including couplings of its derivatives to…
We study the one-loop effective action for a generic two-dimensional dilaton gravity theory conformally coupled to $N$ matter fields. We obtain an explicit expression for the effective action in the weak-coupling limit under a suitable…
We study canonical quantization of a class of 2d dilaton gravity models, which contains the model proposed by Callan, Giddings, Harvey and Strominger. A set of non-canonical phase space variables is found, forming an $SL(2,{\bf R}) \times…
In this thesis the first order formulation of generalized dilaton gravities in two dimensions coupled to a Dirac fermion is considered. After a Hamiltonian analysis of the gauge symmetries and constraints of the theory and fixing…
We provide a complete classification of Poincar\'e-invariant scalar field theories with an enlarged set of classical symmetries to leading order in derivatives, namely for the so-called $P(X,\phi)$ theories, in two or more spacetime…
We present a manifestly Lorentz- and SO(2)-Duality-invariant local Quantum Field Theory of electric charges, Dirac magnetic monopoles and dyons. The manifest invariances are achieved by means of the PST-mechanism. The dynamics for classical…
We find the set of generalized symmetries associated with the free graviton theory in four dimensions. These are generated by gauge invariant topological operators that violate Haag duality in ring-like regions. As expected from general QFT…
We study the local behaviour of static solutions of a general 1+1 dimensional dilaton gravity theory coupled to scalar fields and Abelian gauge fields near horizons. This type of model includes in particular reductions of higher dimensional…