Critical gravity in four dimensions

We study four-dimensional gravity theories that are rendered renormalizable by the inclusion of curvature-squared terms to the usual Einstein action with a cosmological constant. By choosing the parameters appropriately, the massive scalar mode can be eliminated and the massive spin-2 mode can become massless. This "critical" theory may be viewed as a four-dimensional analogue of chiral topologically massive gravity, or of critical "new massive gravity" with a cosmological constant, in three dimensions. We find that the on-shell energy for the remaining massless gravitons vanishes. There are also logarithmic spin-2 modes, which have positive energy. The mass and entropy of standard Schwarzschild-type black holes vanish. The critical theory might provide a consistent toy model for quantum gravity in four dimensions.     

The phase structure of Einstein–Cartan theory

In the Einstein–Cartan theory of torsion-free gravity coupling to massless fermions, the four-fermion interaction is induced and its strength is a function of the gravitational and gauge couplings, as well as the Immirzi parameter. We study the dynamics of the four-fermion interaction to determine whether effective bilinear terms of massive fermion fields are generated. Calculating one-particle-irreducible two-point functions of fermion fields, we identify three different phases and two critical points for phase transitions characterized by the strength of four-fermion interaction: (1) chiral symmetric phase for massive fermions in strong coupling regime; (2) chiral symmetric broken phase for massive fermions in intermediate coupling regime; (3) chiral symmetric phase for massless fermions in weak coupling regime. We discuss the scaling-invariant region for an effective theory of massive fermions coupled to torsion-free gravity in the low-energy limit.     

Gauge theories of weak and strong gravity

A review of some recent papers on gauge theories of weak and strong gravity is presented. For weak gravity, SL(2, C) gauge theory along with tetrad formulation is described which yields massless spin-2 gauge fields (quanta gravitons). Next a unified SL(2n,C) model is discussed along with Higgs fields. Its internal symmetry is SU(n). The free field solutions after symmetry breaking yield massless spin-1 (photons) and spin-2 (gravitons) gauge fields and also massive spin-1 and spin-2 bosons. The massive spin-2 gauge fields are responsible for short range superstrong gravity. Higgs-fermion interaction can lead to baryon and lepton number non-conservation. The relationship of strong gravity with other forces is also briefly considered.     

All spin-2 cubic vertices with two derivatives

In this paper we provide a complete list of spin-2 cubic interaction vertices with two derivatives. We work in (anti) de Sitter space with dimension d?4$d?4$ and arbitrary value of cosmological constante and use simple metric formalism without any auxiliary or Stueckelberg fields. We separately consider cases with one, two and three different spin-2 fields entering the vertex where each field may be massive, massless or partially massless one. The connection of our results with massive (bi)gravity theories is also briefly discussed.     

Self-dual supergravity from N = 2 strings

A new heterotic N = 2 string with manifest target space supersymmetry is constructed by combining a conventional N = 2 string in the right-moving sector and a Green-Schwarz-Berkovits type string in the left-moving sector. The corresponding sigma mode] is then obtained by turning on background fields for the massless excitations. We compute the beta functions and we partially check the OPE's of the superconformal algebra perturbatively in t', all in superspace. The resulting field equations describe N = 1 self-dual supergravity.     

Covariant quantization of chiral bosons and anomaly cancellation

A bosonic string with D spacetime dimensions, R right-moving internal scalars and L left-moving ones can be quantized canonically and is free from local anomaliesif R=L=26−D. Actions for such string theories can be written using Siegel's action for chiral bosons, but anomaly cancellation requires D=0, R=L=26. An action is presented that describes chiral string theories provided R=L=26−D and the physical spectrum is shown to be identical to that of the canonically constructed theory. Supersymmetry, curved backgrounds and global anomalies are briefly discussed.     

Mass spectrum of the M4×SD solution in Euler invariant type higher derivative gravity

The mass spectrum is computed in Euler invariant type higher derivative gravity theory in the case that the space-time is dimensionally reduced to the four-dimensional Minkowski space × D-dimensional sphere. It is shown at the linearized level that after the compactification there appear massless gravitons, massive spin-two particles, massless vectors and one massive scalar mode. All the vectors are massless and the masses of massive spin-two particles are proportional to the S^D eigenvalues of the laplacian. Classical stability is shown to depend only on three parameters.     

Free-field representation of permutation branes in Gepner models

We consider a free-field realization of Gepner models based on the free-field realization of N = 2 superconformal minimal models. Using this realization, we analyze the A/B-type boundary conditions starting from the ansatz with the left-moving and right-moving free-field degrees of freedom glued at the boundary by an arbitrary constant matrix. We show that the only boundary conditions consistent with the singular vector structure of unitary minimal model representations are given by permutation matrices, thereby yielding an explicit free-field construction of the permutation branes of Recknagel. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Nonlinear properties of vielbein massive gravity

We propose a nonlinear extension of the Fierz–Pauli mass for the graviton through a functional of the vielbein and an external Minkowski background. The functional generalizes the notion of the measure, since it reduces to a cosmological constant if the external background is formally sent to zero. Such a term and the explicit external background emerge dynamically from a bi-gravity theory, having both a massless and a massive graviton in its spectrum, in a specific limit in which the massless mode decouples, while the massive one couples universally to matter. We investigate the massive theory using the Stückelberg method and providing a ’t Hooft–Feynman gauge fixing, in which the tensor, vector and scalar Stückelberg fields decouple. We show that this model has the softest possible ultraviolet behavior that can be expected from any generic (Lorentz-invariant) theory of massive gravity, namely that it becomes strong only at the scale Λ₃=(m_g ²M_P)^1/3.     

New heterotic string theories in uncompactified dimensions < 10

It is shown that infinitely many heterotic string theories exist in uncompactified dimensions less than 10, that are one-loop finite (for massless external legs). Tachyons are removed by compactifying into tori (10 − d) and (26 −d) dimensions of the right-moving superstring and left-moving bosonic string sectors, respectively. The condition for modular invariance is shown to be equivalent to self-duality condition on even lorentzian lattices with (10 −d) and (26 −d) timelike and spacelike directions, respectively. The construction results in a (10 −d)(26 −d) parameter family of one-loop finite string theories. The zero mass sector of these theories for d = 4 and 6 correspond to N = 4 and 2 supergravity coupled to super Yang-Mills with many possible groups, some of which cannot be obtained by compactifying d = 10 heterotic string theory.     

The small-volume expansion of gauge theories coupled to massless fermions

The small-volume expansion of the low-lying glueball states for SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theory, coupled to massless fermions with periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions, is determined. For SU(3) with periodic boundary conditions the vacuum is eightfold degenerate and breaks part of the cubic group spontaneously. In all cases the scalar-to-tensor mass ratio m_A1⁺⁺/m_E⁺⁺ is 1.1 to 1.3 as in the pure-gauge case. We also discuss chiral symmetry.     

Instanton effects in supersymmetric gauge theories

We investigate how in supersymmetric gauge theories non-perturbative effects are able to generate non-trivial vacuum properties otherwise forbidden by perturbative non-renormalization theorems. This conclusion can be reliably drawn since the constancy of certain Green functions — due to supersymmetry (SUSY) — allows one to connect vacuum-dominated large distances with short-distance behaviour which is reliably computed by instanton methods. In all the cases we discuss (without matter, with massive or massless matter in real representations and, finally, with matter in complex representations) instanton calculations imply the occurrence of a variety of condensates. For the pure SUSY gauge theory, a gluino condensate induces the spontaneous breaking of Z_2N. For massive super-quantum chromodynamics (SQCD) we find a peculiar mass dependence of matter condensates whose origin is traced to mass singularities of non-zero mode instanton contributions. These contributions force the massless limit of SQCD to differ from the strictly massless case, in which the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetries is induced. Inconsistency with an anomaly equation forces either infinite matter condensates or spontaneous SUSY breaking in the massless cases. For non-constant Green functions, instantons are shown to provide new calculable short-distance singularities of an obvious non-perturbative nature.     

Mirror matter, mirror gravity and galactic rotational curves

We discuss astrophysical implications of the modified gravity model in which the two matter components, ordinary and dark, couple to separate gravitational fields that mix to each other through small mass terms. There are two spin-2 eigenstates: the massless graviton, which induces universal Newtonian attraction, and the massive one, which gives rise to the Yukawa-like potential which is repulsive between the ordinary and dark bodies. As a result for distances much smaller than the Yukawa radius r _m the gravitation strength between the two types of matter becomes vanishing. If r _m ～10 kpc, the typical size of a galaxy, there are interesting implications for the nature of dark matter. In particular, one can avoid the problem of the cusp that is typical for the cold dark matter halos. Interestingly, the flat shape of the rotational curves can be explained even in the case of the collisional and dissipative dark matter (as e.g. mirror matter), which cannot give the extended halos but instead must form galactic discs similarly to the visible matter. The observed rotational curves for the large, medium-size and dwarf galaxies can be nicely reproduced. We also briefly discuss possible implications for the direct search of dark matter.     

A Wilson-Yukawa Model with undoubled chiral fermions in 2D

We consider the fermion mass spectrum in the strong coupling vortex phase (VXS) of a lattice fermion-scalar model with a global U(1)_L × U(1)_R, in two dimensions, in the context of a recently proposed two-cutoff lattice formulation. The fermion doublers are made massive by a strong Wilson-Yukawa coupling, but in contrast with the standard formulation of these type of models, in which the light fermion spectrum was found to be vector-like, we find massless fermions with chiral quantum numbers at finite lattice spacing. When the global symmetry is gauged, this model is expected to give rise to a lattice chiral gauge theory.     

Solutions of free higher spins in AdS

We consider free massive and massless higher integer spins in AdS backgrounds in general D dimensions. We obtain the solutions corresponding to the highest-weight state of the spin-? representations of the SO(2,D−1) isometry groups. The solution for the spin-? field is expressed recursively in terms of that for the spin-(?−1). Thus starting from the explicit spin-0, all the higher-spin solutions can be obtained. These solutions allow us to derive the generalized Breitenlohner-Freedman bound, and analyze the asymptotic falloffs. In particular, solutions with negative mass square in general have falloffs slower than those of the Schwarzschild AdS black holes in the AdS boundaries.     

Out of equilibrium dynamics of supersymmetry at high energy density

We investigate the out of equilibrium dynamics of global chiral supersymmetry at finite energy density. We concentrate on two specific models. The first is the massive Wess–Zumino model which we study in a self-consistent one-loop approximation. We find that for energy densities above a certain threshold, the fields are driven dynamically to a point in field space at which the fermionic component of the superfield is massless. The state, however, is found to be unstable, indicating a breakdown of the one-loop approximation. To investigate further, we consider an O(N) massive chiral model which is solved exactly in the large N limit. For sufficiently high energy densities, we find that for late times the fields reach a nonperturbative minimum of the effective potential degenerate with the perturbative minimum. This minimum is a true attractor for O(N) invariant states at high energy densities, and this provides a mechanism for determining which of the otherwise degenerate vacua is chosen by the dynamics. The final state for large energy density is a cloud of massless particles (both bosons and fermions) around this new nonperturbative supersymmetric minimum. By introducing boson masses which softly break the supersymmetry, we demonstrate a see-saw mechanism for generating small fermion masses. We discuss some of the cosmological implications of our results.     

Superconformal deformation,zero-norm states and space-time symmetries of the superstring theories

We present a formalism to study type II and Heterotic superstrings with massless and massive background fields in the bosonic sector. This formalism is appropriate to study high energy symmetries of the superstring. As an example, we explicitly relate all massless symmetries to the massless zero-norm states in the spectrum. This includes theE ₈ ?E ₈ andSO (32) gauge symmetries in the ten-dimensional Heterotic string. The first (evenG-parity) massive level is briefly described. We then argue the existence of new symmetries for the massive Yang-Mills-like gauge bosons and tensor fields at each fixed mass level. These enlarged stringy symmetries correspond to the decoupling of massive zero-norm states in the spectrum.     

Localization of matters on the bent brane in bulk

We investigate the possibility of localizing various matter fields on a bent AdS₄ (dS₄) thick brane in AdS₅. For spin 0 scalar field, we find a massless zero mode and an excited state which can be localized on the bent brane. For spin 1 vector field, there is only a massless zero mode on the bent brane. For spin 1/2 fermion field, it is shown that, in the case of no Yukawa coupling of scalar-fermion, there is no existence of localized massless zero mode for both left and right chiral fermions. In order to localize massless fermions, some kind of Yukawa coupling must be included. We study two types of Yukawa couplings as examples. Localization property of chiral fermions is related to the parameters of the brane model, the Yukawa coupling constant and the cosmological constant of the 4-dimensional space–time.     

Ricci cubic gravity in d dimensions,gravitons and SAdS/Lifshitz black holes

A special class of higher curvature theories of gravity, Ricci cubic gravity (RCG), in general d dimensional space-time has been investigated in this paper. We have used two different approaches, the linearized equations of motion and the auxiliary field formalism to study the massive and massless graviton propagating modes of the AdS background. Using the auxiliary field formalism, we have found the renormalized boundary stress tensor to compute the mass of the Schwarzschild–AdS and Lifshitz black holes in RCG theory.