General relativity with a topological phase: an action principle

2003/11/18 by Lee Smolin, Smolin, Lee, Artem Starodubtsev +1 · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.hep-th/0311163

8 pages

arxiv created 2003/11/18 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01

Abstract

An action principle is described which unifies general relativity and topological field theory. An additional degree of freedom is introduced and depending on the value it takes the theory has solutions that reduce it to 1) general relativity in Palatini form, 2) general relativity in the Ashtekar form, 3) F\wedge F theory for SO(5) and 4) BF theory for SO(5). This theory then makes it possible to describe explicitly the dynamics of phase transition between a topological phase and a gravitational phase where the theory has local degrees of freedom. We also find that a boundary between adymnamical and topological phase resembles an horizon.

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