Avoiding degenerate coframes in an affine gauge approach to quantum gravity

In quantum models of gravity, it is surmized that configurations with degenerate coframes could occur during topology change of the underlying spacetime structure. However, the coframe is not the true Yang--Mills type gauge field of the translations, since it lacks the inhomogeneous gradient term in the gauge transformations. By explicitly restoring this ``hidden" piece within the framework of the affine gauge approach to gravity, one can avoid the metric or coframe degeneracy which would otherwise interfere with the integrations within the path integral. This is an important advantage for quantization.Comment: 14 pages, Preprint Cologne-thp-1993-H

BRST quantization of gauge theory in noncommutative geometry: matrix derivative approach

The BRST quantization of a gauge theory in noncommutative geometry is carried out in the ``matrix derivative" approach. BRST/anti-BRST transformation rules are obtained by applying the horizontality condition, in the superconnection formalism. A BRST/anti-BRST invariant quantum action is then constructed, using an adaptation of the method devised by Baulieu and Thierry-Mieg for the Yang-Mills case. The resulting quantum action turns out to be the same as that of a gauge theory in the 't Hooft gauge with spontaneously broken symmetry. Our result shows that only the even part of the supergroup acts as a gauge symmetry, while the odd part effectively provides a global symmetry. We treat the general formalism first, then work out the $SU(2/1)$ and $SU(2/2)$ cases explicitly.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX fil