Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories

A class of diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories is studied. The action for this class of theories can be formulated as a generalisation of the well known topological BF-theories with a potential for the B-field or in a pure connection formulation. When the gauge group is chosen to be SU(2) the th...

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Main Author: Torres Gomez, Alexander
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2012
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12815/
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author Torres Gomez, Alexander
author_facet Torres Gomez, Alexander
author_sort Torres Gomez, Alexander
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description A class of diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories is studied. The action for this class of theories can be formulated as a generalisation of the well known topological BF-theories with a potential for the B-field or in a pure connection formulation. When the gauge group is chosen to be SU(2) the theory describes gravity. For a larger gauge group G one gets a unified model of gravity and Yang-Mills fields. A background for the theory is chosen which breaks the gauge group G by selecting in it a preferred SU(2) subgroup which describes the gravitational sector. The Yang-Mills sector is described by the part of the gauge group that commutes with this SU(2). Thus, when the action is expanded around this background the spectrum of the linearised theory consists of the usual gravitons plus Yang-Mills fields. In addition, there is a set of massive scalar fields that are charged both under the gravitational and Yang-Mills subgroups. The latter sector is described by the part of the gauge group that does not commute with SU(2). A fermionic Lagrangian is also proposed which can be coupled to the BF plus potential formulation.
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spelling nottingham-128152025-02-28T11:21:29Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12815/ Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories Torres Gomez, Alexander A class of diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories is studied. The action for this class of theories can be formulated as a generalisation of the well known topological BF-theories with a potential for the B-field or in a pure connection formulation. When the gauge group is chosen to be SU(2) the theory describes gravity. For a larger gauge group G one gets a unified model of gravity and Yang-Mills fields. A background for the theory is chosen which breaks the gauge group G by selecting in it a preferred SU(2) subgroup which describes the gravitational sector. The Yang-Mills sector is described by the part of the gauge group that commutes with this SU(2). Thus, when the action is expanded around this background the spectrum of the linearised theory consists of the usual gravitons plus Yang-Mills fields. In addition, there is a set of massive scalar fields that are charged both under the gravitational and Yang-Mills subgroups. The latter sector is described by the part of the gauge group that does not commute with SU(2). A fermionic Lagrangian is also proposed which can be coupled to the BF plus potential formulation. 2012-10-15 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12815/1/CorrectedThesis.pdf Torres Gomez, Alexander (2012) Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
spellingShingle Torres Gomez, Alexander
Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories
title Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories
title_full Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories
title_fullStr Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories
title_full_unstemmed Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories
title_short Diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories
title_sort diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12815/