Séminaire de Physique Théorique
Palatini Gauss-Bonnet theoryMarc Henneaux (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Collège de France)
Thursday 19 February 2026 13:30 - Salle des séminaires - Salle 1180, bâtiment E2
Résumé :
A class of models in even spacetime dimensions 2n is considered. These share many similarities with Chern-Simons theories in odd spacetime dimensions 2n+1. The independent dynamical variables of these models are a GL(2n)-connection and a metric in internal space. The action is a polynomial of degree n in the curvature of the connection, with indices saturated by means of the metric and the Levi-Civita tensor. The cases of 2 and 4 spacetime dimensions are treated in detail. In 2 dimensions, the theory reduces to a boundary theory in 1+0 dimensions and is equivalent to a particle moving in 3-dimensional anti-de Sitter space when formulated on the interval. The dynamics is more intricate in higher dimensions (n>1), where local degrees of freedom are present.
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