Related papers: Pretty Good Gravity
We use the well established duality of topological gravity to a double scaled matrix model with the Airy spectral curve to define what we refer to as topological gravity with arbitrary Dyson index $\upbeta$ ($\upbeta$ topological gravity).…
We construct a topological theory for euclidean gravity in four dimensions, by enforcing self-duality conditions on the spin connection. The corresponding topological symmetry is associated to the SU(2) X diffeomorphism X U(1) invariance.…
The description of gravity in the form of an embedding theory is based on the hypothesis that our space-time is a four-dimensional surface in a flat ten-dimensional space. The choice of standard Einstein-Hilbert action leads in this case to…
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 introduce a notion of topological M-theory and argue that it provides a unification of form theories of gravity in various dimensions. Its classical solutions involve G_2 holonomy metrics on 7-manifolds, obtained from a topological…
Assuming that the natural gauge group of gravity is given by the group of isometries of a given space, for a maximally symmetric space we derive a model in which gravity is essentially a gauge theory of translations. Starting from first…
We illustrate the generative power of the lifting property (orthogonality of morphisms in a category) as means of defining natural elementary mathematical concepts by giving a number of examples in various categories, in particular showing…
This dissertation investigates three main topics, all of which dealing with alternative, higher-order gravity theories in four dimensions. Firstly, we study the variational and conformal structure of those theories. Next, we analyse their…
This essay's title is justified by discussing a class of Yang-Mills-type theories of which standard Yang-Mills theories are special cases but which is broad enough to include gravity as a double field theory. We use the framework of…
The classical theory of gravity is formulated as a gauge theory on a frame bundle with spontaneous symmetry breaking caused by the existence of Dirac fermionic fields. The pseudo-Riemannian metric (tetrad field) is the corresponding Higgs…
The author has previously suggested that the ground state for 4-dimensional quantum gravity can be represented as a condensation of non-linear gravitons connected by Dirac strings. In this note we suggest that the low-lying excitations of…
Topological models involving matter couplings to Donaldson-Witten theory are presented. The construction is carried using both, the topological algebra and its central extension, which arise from the twisting of $N=2$ supersymmetry in four…
By virtue of harmonic maps on two-dimensional spheres (S$^{2}$), a topological quantization in spacetime is proposed. The discrete character of all physical quantities follows naturally. A Schwarzschild black hole, non-black hole and…
Considering Chern-Simons like gravity theories in three dimensions as first order systems, we analyze the Hamiltonian structure of three theories Topological massive gravity, New massive gravity, and Zwei-Dreibein Gravity.We show that these…
One can try to define the theory of quantum gravity as the sum over geometries. In two dimensions the sum over {\it Euclidean} geometries can be performed constructively by the method of {\it dynamical triangulations}. One can define a {\it…
Quantum theory is a probabilistic theory with fixed causal structure. General relativity is a deterministic theory but where the causal structure is dynamic. It is reasonable to expect that quantum gravity will be a probabilistic theory…
In this contribution, we re-assess the subject of topological gravity by following the Shift Supersymmetry formalism. The gauge-fixing of the theory goes under the Batallin-Vilkovisky (BV) prescription based on a diagram that contains both…
Quantum field theory successfully explains the origin of all fundamental forces except gravity due to the renormalizability problem. In this paper, we proposed a topological scenario to understand this puzzle. First, we proposed a $3+1$D…
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…
The role of topology in elementary quantum physics is discussed in detail. It is argued that attributes of classical spatial topology emerge from properties of state vectors with suitably smooth time evolution. Equivalently, they emerge…