We elaborate on conformal higher-spin gauge theory in three-dimensional (3D) curved space. For any integer $n>2$ we introduce a conformal spin-$\frac{n}{2}$ gauge field $h_{(n)} =h_{α_1\dots α_n}$ (with $n$ spinor indices) of dimension $(2-n/2)$ and argue that it possesses a Weyl primary descendant $C_{(n)}$ of dimension $(1+n/2)$. The latter proves to be divergenceless and gauge invariant in any conformally flat space. Primary fields $C_{(3)}$ and $C_{(4)}$ coincide with the linearised Cottino and Cotton tensors, respectively. Associated with $C_{(n)}$ is a Chern-Simons-type action that is both Weyl and gauge invariant in any conformally flat space. These actions, which for $n=3$ and $n=4$ coincide with the linearised actions for conformal gravitino and conformal gravity, respectively, are used to construct gauge-invariant models for massive higher-spin fields in Minkowski and anti-de Sitter space. In the former case, the higher-derivative equations of motion are shown to be equivalent to those first-order equations which describe the irreducible unitary massive spin-$\frac{n}{2}$ representations of the 3D Poincaré group. Finally, we develop ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric extensions of the above results.
We present the covariant symplectic structure of the Topologically Massive Gravity and find a compact expression for the conserved charges of generic spacetimes with Killing symmetries.
Second order degenerate Clèment and Sarıoğlu-Tekin Lagrangians are casted into forms of various first order Lagrangians. Hamiltonian analysis of these equivalent formalisms are performed by means of Dirac-Bergmann constraint algorithm.
For cosmological topologically massive gravity at the chiral point we calculate momentum space 2- and 3-point correlators of operators in the postulated dual CFT on the cylinder. These operators are sourced by the bulk and boundary gravitons. Our correlators are fully consistent with the proposal that cosmological topologically massive gravity at the chiral point is dual to a logarithmic CFT. In the process we give a complete classification of normalizable and non-normalizeable left, right and logarithmic solutions to the linearized equations of motion in global AdS_3.
We analyze the De Donder-Weyl covariant field equations for the topologically massive Yang-Mills theory. These equations are obtained through the Poisson-Gerstenhaber bracket described within the polysymplectic framework. Even though the Lagrangian defining the system of our interest is singular, we show that by appropriately choosing the polymomenta one may obtain an equivalent regular Lagrangian, thus avoiding the standard analysis of constraints. Further, our simple treatment allows us to only consider the privileged $(n-1)$-forms in order to obtain the correct field equations, in oppositio…
We discuss locally Weyl (scale) covariant generalisations of gravitational theories using Riemann-Cartan-Weyl space-times in arbitrary dimensions. We demonstrate the procedure of Weyl gauging on two examples in particular: General relativity, and topologically massive gravity in three dimensions.
We construct a "Chern-Simons-like" action for N=1 Topologically Massive Supergravity from the Chern-Simons actions of N=1 Supergravity and Conformal Supergravity. We convert this action into Hamiltonian form and use this to demonstrate that the theory propagates a single massive (2, 3/2) supermultiplet.
We define conserved gravitational charges in -cosmologically extended- topologically massive gravity, exhibit them in surface integral form about their de-Sitter or flat vacua and verify their correctness in terms of two basic types of solution.
Using the principles of the modern scattering amplitudes programme, we develop a formalism for constructing the amplitudes of three-dimensional topologically massive gauge theories and gravity. Inspired by recent developments in four dimensions, we construct the three-dimensional equivalent of $x$-variables for conserved matter currents coupled to topologically massive gauge bosons or gravitons. Using these, we bootstrap various matter-coupled gauge-theory and gravitational scattering amplitudes, and conjecture that topologically massive gauge theory and topologically massive gravity are relat…
We study the conserved charges of supersymmetric solutions in the topologically massive gravity theory for both asymptotically flat and constant curvature geometries.
We study van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov discontinuity in the topologically new massive gravity (TNMG). The reduction from 2 degrees of freedom to one is interpreted as van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov discontinuity appeared when going from anti-de Sitter spacetime to Minkowski spacetime in the linearized TNMG.
We present an exact solution in 3-dimensional topologically massive gravity with negative cosmological constant which dynamically interpolates between a past horizon and a chiral AdS pp-wave. Similarly, upon time reversal, one obtains an AdS pp-wave with a future event horizon
We thereby prove that a large class of topologically massive theories of the Cremmer-Scherk-Kalb-Ramond-type in any $d$ dimensions corresponds to gauge non-invariant first-order theories that can be interpreted as self-dual models.
The solution of topologically massive gravity with cosmological constant is reduced, for space-times with two commuting Killing vectors, to a special-relativistic dynamical problem. This approach is applied to the construction of a class of exact sourceless, horizonless solutions asymptotic to the BTZ extreme black holes.
It is proved that there exist a vector representation of Dirac's spinor field and in one sense it is equivalent to biquaternion (i.e. complexified quaternion) representation. This can be considered as a generalization of Cartan's idea of triality to Dirac's spinors. In the vector representation the first order Dirac Lagrangian is dual equivalent to the two order Lagrangian of topologically massive gauge field. The potential field which corresponds to the Dirac field is obtained by using master (or parent) action approach. The novel gauge field is self-dual and contains both anti-symmetric Lie …
We construct two classes of exact solutions to the field equations of topologically massive electrodynamics coupled to topologically massive gravity in 2 + 1 dimensions. The self-dual stationary solutions of the first class are horizonless, asymptotic to the extreme BTZ black-hole metric, and regular for a suitable parameter domain. The diagonal solutions of the second class, which exist if the two Chern-Simons coupling constants exactly balance, include anisotropic cosmologies and static solutions with a pointlike horizon.
I review how "classical SUGRA" embeddability establishes positive energy E for D=3 topologically massive gravity (TMG), with or without a cosmological term, a procedure familiar from D=4 Einstein gravity (GR). It also provides explicit expressions for E. In contrast to GR, E is not manifestly positive, due to the peculiar two-term nature of TMG.
The dynamical structure of topologically massive gravity in the context of the Faddeev-Jackiw symplectic approach is studied. It is shown that this method allows to avoid some ambiguities arising in the study of the gauge structure via the Dirac formalism. In particular, the complete set of constraints and the gauge symmetry generators of the theory are obtained straightforwardly via the zero-modes of the symplectic matrix. In order to obtain the generalized Faddeev-Jackiw brackets and calculate the local physical degrees of freedom of this model, an appropriate gauge-fixing procedure is intro…
Topologically massive Yang-Mills theory is studied in the framework of geometric quantization. Since this theory has a mass gap proportional to the topological mass m, Yang-Mills contribution decays exponentially at very large distances compared to 1/m, leaving a pure Chern-Simons theory with level number k. In this paper, the near Chern-Simons limit is studied where the distance is large enough to give an almost topological theory, with a small contribution from the Yang-Mills term. It is shown that this almost topological theory consists of two copies of Chern-Simons with level number k/2, v…
We construct, and establish the (covariant) conservation of, a 4-index "super-stress tensor" for TMG. Separately, we discuss its invalidity in quadratic curvature models and suggest a generalization.
We construct a Weyl-invariant extension of topologically massive gravity which, remarkably, turns out to include topologically massive electrodynamics, with a Proca mass term, conformally coupled to a scalar field. The action has no dimensionful parameters, therefore, the masses are generated via symmetry breaking either radiatively in flat backgrounds or spontaneously in constant curvature backgrounds. The broken phase of the theory, generically, has a single massive spin-2 and a massive spin-1 excitation. Chiral gravity in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes does not arise as a low ener…
An uncomplicated and easily handling prescription that converts the task of checking the unitarity of massive, topologically massive, models into a straightforward algebraic exercise, is developed. The algorithm is used to test the unitarity of both topologically massive higher-derivative electromagnetism and topologically massive higher-derivative gravity. The novel and amazing features of these effective field models are also discussed.
The superfield equations of massive IIA supergravity, in the form of constraints on the superspace geometry, are shown to be implied by $κ$-symmetry of the topologically massive D-2-brane.
We calculate the one loop partition function for topologically massive higher spin gravity (TMHSG) for arbitrary spin by taking the spin-3 TMHSG action constructed in arXiv:1107.0915 and subsequently generalising it for an arbitrary spin. We find that the final result can be put into a product form which cannot be holomorphically factorized giving strong evidence that the topologically massive higher spin gravity is dual to a high spin extension of logarithmic CFT rather than a chiral one.
We calculate the free energy from the on-shell action for topologically massive gravity with negative and vanishing cosmological constant, thereby providing a first principles derivation of the free energy of Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black holes and flat space cosmologies. We summarize related recent checks of flat space holography.
Wolfgang Kummer was a pioneer of two-dimensional gravity and a strong advocate of the first order formulation in terms of Cartan variables. In the present work we apply Wolfgang Kummer's philosophy, the `Vienna School approach', to a specific three-dimensional model of gravity, cosmological topologically massive gravity at the chiral point. Exploiting a new Chern-Simons representation we perform a canonical analysis. The dimension of the physical phase space is two per point, and thus the theory exhibits a local physical degree of freedom, the topologically massive graviton.
At a critical ``chiral'' coupling, topologically massive gravity with a negative cosmological constant exhibits several unusual features, including the emergence of a new logarithmic branch of solutions and a linearization instability for certain boundary conditions. I show that at this coupling, the linearized theory may be parametrized by a free scalar field at the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound, and use this description to investigate these features.
Geometric quantization of topologically massive and pure Yang- Mills theories is studied in 2+1 dimensions. Analogous to the topologically massive AdS gravity model, both topologically massive Yang-Mills and pure Yang-Mills theories are shown to exhibit a Chern-Simons splitting behavior at large distances. It is also shown that, this large distance topological behavior can be further used to incorporate link invariants.
We investigate the topologically new massive gravity in three dimensions. It turns out that a single massive mode is propagating in the flat spacetime, comparing to the conformal Chern-Simons gravity which has no physically propagating degrees of freedom. Also we discuss the realization of the BMS/GCA correspondence.
We determine the black hole quasi-normal mode spectrum for tensor perturbations in topologically massive AdS-gravity. In the special case of chiral gravity quasi-normal modes are absent despite of the presence of a horizon. In the process we uncover a simple algebraic structure in the quasi normal modes spectrum: the tower of QNM's consists of descendents of a "chiral highest weight'' QNM which in turn satisfies a first order equation.
We re-derive, compactly, a TMG decoupling theorem: source-free TMG separates into its Einstein and Cotton sectors for spaces with a hypersurface-orthogonal Killing vector, here concretely for circular symmetry. We can then generalize it to include matter, which is necessarily null.
The addition of a topologically massive term to an admittedly non-unitary three-dimensional massive model, be it an electromagnetic system or a gravitational one, does not cure its non-unitarity. What about the enlargement of avowedly unitary massive models by way of a topologically massive term? The electromagnetic models remain unitary after the topological augmentation but, surprisingly enough, the gravitational ones have their unitarity spoiled. Here we analyze these issues and present the explanation why unitary massive gravitational models, unlike unitary massive electromagnetic ones, ca…
We consider renormalizability of topologically massive gravity in three space-time dimensions. With a usual parametrization of the metric tensor, we establish the statement that topologically massive gravity is in fact renormalizable. In this proof, we make use of not only a recently found, new infrared regularization method of scalar mode but also a covariant ultraviolet regulator with a specific combination of higher derivative terms which is motivated by the new massive gravity in three dimensions.
We extend the Abbott-Deser-Tekin approach to the computation of the Killing charge for a solution of topologically massive gravity (TMG) linearized around an arbitrary background. This is then applied to evaluate the mass and angular momentum of black hole solutions of TMG with non-constant curvature asymptotics. The resulting values, together with the appropriate black hole entropy, fit nicely into the first law of black hole thermodynamics.
We show that the linking number of two homologically trivial disjoint $p$ and $(D-p-1)$-dimensional submanifolds of a $D$-dimensional manifold can be derived from the topologically massive $BC$ theory in low energy regime.
In this thesis, topologically massive Yang-Mills theory is studied in the framework of geometric quantization. This theory has a mass gap that is proportional to the topological mass $m$. Thus, Yang-Mills contribution decays exponentially at very large distances compared to $1/m$, leaving a pure Chern-Simons theory with level number $k$. The focus of this research is the $near$ Chern-Simons limit of the theory, where the distance is large enough to give an almost topological theory, with a small contribution from the Yang-Mills term. It is shown that this almost topological theory consists of …
Making use of Achucarro-Ortiz (AO) type of dimensional reduction, we study the topologically massive gravity with a negative cosmological constant on AdS2 spacetimes. For a constant dilaton, this two-dimensional model also admits three AdS2 vacuum solutions, which are related to two AdS3 and warped AdS3 backgrounds with an identification upon uplifting three dimensions. We carry out the perturbation analysis around these backgrounds to find what is a physically propagating field. However, it turns out that there is no propagating massive mode on AdS2 background, in contrast to the Kaluza-Klein…
We find the critical charge for a topologically massive gauge theory for any gauge group, generalising our earlier result for SU(2). The relation between critical charges in TMGT, singular vectors in the WZNW model and logarithmic CFT is investigated.
We give a detailed account of the free field spectrum and the Newtonian limit of the linearized "massive" (Pauli-Fierz), "topologically massive" (Einstein-Hilbert-Chern-Simons) gravity in 2+1 dimensions about a Minkowski spacetime. For a certain ratio of the parameters, the linearized free theory is Jordan-diagonalizable and reduces to a degenerate "Pais-Uhlenbeck" oscillator which, despite being a higher derivative theory, is ghost-free.
We apply the Lee-Wald covariant phase space method to the Weyl-invariant Topologically Massive Gravity and compute the corresponding on-shell conserved charges. By using appropriate decay conditions for the existing propagating modes in the near-horizon of a stationary black hole, we obtain the charges generating the asymptotic symmetries. We show that the charges are integrable and the (modified) algebras among the asymptotic generators are closed for the certain choice of central extensions.
We show that an analytical continuation of the Vuorio solution to three-dimensional topologically massive gravity leads to a two-parameter family of black hole solutions, which are geodesically complete and causally regular within a certain parameter range. No observers can remain static in these spacetimes. We discuss their global structure, and evaluate their mass, angular momentum, and entropy, which satisfy a slightly modified form of the first law of thermodynamics.
We extend topologically massive electrodynamics, both by adding a higher derivative action to cast the entire three-term model in Chern-Simons (CS) form, and by embedding it in an AdS background. It can then be written as the sum of two CS terms, one of which vanishes at the "chiral" point, in analogy with its gravitational topologically massive counterpart. Separately we treat pure CS electrodynamics plus Einstein gravity interacting with point sources. The gravity/vector field equations decouple; their solutions are the familiar exterior "conical" metric and vector potentials.
We study topologically massive (B \wedge F) Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories in four dimensions, and reduce them to three dimensions by assuming that the fields do not propagate in one of the spatial directions. For certain gauge choices the reduced theories are the Jackiw-Pi models of massive gauge fields.
We show that cosmological topologically massive gravity at the chiral point allows not only Brown-Henneaux boundary conditions as consistent boundary conditions, but slightly more general ones which encompass the logarithmic primary found in 0805.2610 as well as all its descendants.
Recently, an extension of the topologically massive gravity (TMG) in $2+1$ dimensions, dubbed as minimal massive gravity (MMG), was found which is free of the bulk-boundary unitarity clash that inflicts the former theory and all the other known three dimensional theories. Field equations of MMG differ from those of TMG at quadratic terms in the curvature that do not come from the variation of an action depending on the metric alone. Here we show that MMG is a unique theory and there does not exist a deformation of TMG or MMG at the cubic and quartic order (and beyond) in the curvature that is …
We discuss the formulation of cosmological topologically massive (simple) supergravity theory in three-dimensional Riemann-Cartan space-times. We use the language of exterior differential forms and the properties of Majorana spinors on 3-dimensional space-times to explicitly demonstrate the local supersymmetry of the action density involved. Coupled field equations that are complete in both of their bosonic and fermionic sectors are derived by a first order variational principle subject to a torsion-constraint imposed by the method of Lagrange multipliers. We compare these field equations with…
We introduce a natural set of asymptotic conditions in the spacelike stretched AdS sector of topologically massive gravity. The Poisson bracket algebra of the canonical generators is shown to have the form of the semi-direct sum of a $u(1)$ Kac-Moody and a Virasoro algebra, with central charges. Using the Sugawara construction, we prove that the asymptotic symmetry coincides with the conformal symmetry, described by two independent Virasoro algebras with central charges. The result is in complete agreement with the hypothesis made in [6].
For a (2+1)-dimensional topologically massive Born-Infeld theory, we compute the interaction potential within the structure of the gauge-invariant but path-dependent variables formalism. The result is equivalent to that of $QED_3$ with a Thirring interaction term among fermions, in the short distance regime.
We calculate quasinormal modes of a massive scalar perturbation on the topologically massive black hole (CS-BTZ black hole). The chiral point of $μ\ell=1$ corresponds to a newly extremal black hole. We show that there is no quasinormal modes at this point. Accordingly, we prove the unitarity of the CS-BTZ black hole at the chiral point.
We consider the four dimensional topologically massive electrodynamics in which a gauge field is interacting with 2nd rank antisymmetric tensor field through a topological interaction. The photon becomes massive by eating the 2nd rank tensor field, which is dual to the Higgs mechanism. We explicitly demonstrate the nature of the mechanism by performing a canonical analysis of the theory and discuss various aspects of it.
A Lagrangian formulation describing the electromagnetic interaction - mediated by topologically massive vector bosons - between charged, spin-(1/2) fermions with an abelian magnetic monopole in a curved spacetime with non-minimal coupling and torsion potential is presented. The covariant field equations are obtained. The issue of coexistence of massive photons and magnetic monopoles is addressed in the present framework. It is found that despite the topological nature of photon mass generation in curved spacetime with isotropic dilaton field, the classical field theory describing the nonrelati…
We explicitly calculate the one-loop effective potential for the supersymmetric topologically massive gauge theory in four dimensions, where the chiral scalar superfield is directly coupled to the field strength for the gauge spinor superfield.
I discuss the applicability in Weyl-invariant induced gravity and topologically massive gravity of certain formulas originally derived by Knizhnik, Polyakov, and Zamolodchikov in the context of diffeomorphism-invariant induced gravity.
Three-dimensional topologically massive AdS gravity has a complicated constraint algebra, making it difficult to count nonperturbative degrees of freedom. I show that a new choice of variables greatly simplifies this algebra, and confirm that the theory contains a single propagating mode for all values of the mass parameter and the cosmological constant. As an added benefit, I rederive the central charges and conformal weights of the boundary conformal field theory from an explicit analysis of the asymptotic algebra of constraints.
The AdS/CFT correspondence provides a new perspective on recurrent questions in General Relativity such as the allowed boundary conditions at infinity and the definition of gravitational conserved charges. Here we review the main insights obtained in this direction over the last decade and apply the new techniques to Topologically Massive Gravity. We show that this theory is dual to a non-unitary CFT for any value of its parameter mu and becomes a Logarithmic CFT at mu = 1.
We study topologically massive (2+1)-dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The masses of the linearized curvature excitations about AdS_3 backgrounds are not only shifted from their flat background values but, more surprisingly, split according to chirality. For all finite values of the topological mass, we find a single bulk degree of freedom with positive energy, and exhibit a complete set of normalizable, finite-energy wave packet solutions. This model can also be written as a sum of two higher-derivative SL(2,R) Chern--Simons theories, weighted by the central charges o…
We analyse the equivalence between topologically massive gauge theory (TMGT) and different formulations of non-topologically massive gauge theories (NTMGTs) in the canonical approach. The different NTMGTs studied are Stückelberg formulation of (A) a first order formulation involving one and two form fields, (B) Proca theory, and (C) massive Kalb-Ramond theory. We first quantise these reducible gauge systems by using the phase space extension procedure and using it, identify the phase space variables of NTMGTs which are equivalent to the canonical variables of TMGT and show that under this the …
In this paper, we investigate relativistic quantum dynamics of spin- $0$ massive charged particle subject to a homogeneous magnetic field in the Gödel-type space-time with potentials. We solve the Klein-Gordon equation subject to a homogeneous magnetic field in a topologically trivial flat class of Gödel-type space-time in the presence of a Cornell-type scalar and Coulomb-type vector potentials and analyze the effects on the energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions.
We calculate the running of the three coupling constants in cosmological, topologically massive 3d gravity. We find that ν, the dimensionless coefficient of the Chern-Simons term, has vanishing beta function. The flow of the cosmological constant and Newton's constant depends on ν, and for any positive νthere exist both a trivial and a nontrivial fixed point.
