Chern–Simons formulation of three-dimensional gravity with torsion and nonmetricity

We consider various models of three-dimensional gravity with torsion or nonmetricity (metric affine gravity), and show that they can be written as Chern–Simons theories with suitable gauge groups. Using the groups $\mathrm{ISO}(2,1)$, $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ and $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})\times \mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})$, and the fact that they admit two independent coupling constants, we obtain the Mielke–Baekler model for zero, positive and negative effective cosmological constant respectively. Choosing $\mathrm{SO}(3,2)$ as the gauge group, one gets a generalization of conformal gravity that has zero torsion and only the trace part of the nonmetricity. This characterizes a Weyl structure. Finally, we present a new topological model of metric affine gravity in three dimensions arising from an $\mathrm{SL}(4,\mathbb{R})$ Chern–Simons theory.