A Relation Between Gravity in (3+1)(3+1)--Dimensions and Pontrjagin Topological Invariant

A relation between the MacDowell-Mansouri theory of gravity and the Pontrjagin toplogical invariant in $(3+1)$ dimensions is discussed. This relation may be of especial interest in the quest of finding a mechanism to go from non-dynamical to dynamical gravity.Comment: 9 pages, Te

On Induced Gravity in 2-d Topological Theories

We study 2-d $\phi F$ gauge theories with the objective to understand, also at the quantum level, the emergence of induced gravity. The wave functionals - representing the eigenstates of a vanishing flat potential - are obtained in the $\phi$ representation. The composition of the space they describe is then analyzed: the state corresponding to the singlet representation of the gauge group describes a topological universe. For other representations a metric which is invariant under the residual gauge group is induced, apart from possible topological obstructions. Being inherited from the group metric it is rather rigid.Comment: 38, tex, 160/93/e

Holomorphic Analogs of Topological Gauge Theories

We introduce a new class of gauge field theories in any complex dimension, based on algebra-valued (p,q)-forms on complex n-manifolds. These theories are holomorphic analogs of the well-known Chern-Simons and BF topological theories defined on real manifolds. We introduce actions for different special holomorphic BF theories on complex, Kahler and Calabi-Yau manifolds and describe their gauge symmetries. Candidate observables, topological invariants and relations to integrable models are briefly discussed.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX2e, shortened PLB versio

Viscosity of gauge theory plasma with a chemical potential from AdS/CFT correspondence

We compute the strong coupling limit of the shear viscosity for the N=4 super-Yang-Mill theory with a chemical potential. We use the five-dimensional Reissner-Nordstrom-anti-deSitter black hole, so the chemical potential is the one for the R-charges U(1)_R^3. We compute the quasinormal frequencies of the gravitational and electromagnetic vector perturbations in the background numerically. This enables one to explicitly locate the diffusion pole for the shear viscosity. The ratio of the shear viscosity eta to the entropy density s is eta/s=1/(4pi) within numerical errors, which is the same result as the one without chemical potential.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, ReVTeX4; v2: minor improvements; v3: explanations added and improved; v4: version to appear in PR

Residue Formulas for the Large k Asymptotics of Witten's Invariants of Seifert Manifolds. The Case of SU(2)

We derive the large k asymptotics of the surgery formula for SU(2) Witten's invariants of general Seifert manifolds. The contributions of connected components of the moduli space of flat connections are identified. The contributions of irreducible connections are presented in a residue form. This form is similar to the one used by A. Szenes, L. Jeffrey and F. Kirwan. This similarity allows us to express the contributions of irreducible connections in terms of intersection numbers on their moduli spaces.Comment: 39 pages, no figures, LaTe

Holographic RG-flows and Boundary CFTs

Solutions of $(d+1)$-dimensional gravity coupled to a scalar field are obtained, which holographically realize interface and boundary CFTs. The solution utilizes a Janus-like $\mathrm{AdS}_d$ slicing ansatz and corresponds to a deformation of the CFT by a spatially-dependent coupling of a relevant operator. The BCFT solutions are singular in the bulk, but physical quantities such as the holographic entanglement entropy can be calculated.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure

Orbifolds and Solitons

We propose a conformal field theory description of a solitonic heterotic string in type $IIA$ superstring theory compactified on $K3$, generalizing previous work by J. Harvey, A. Strominger and A. Sen. In ten dimensions the construction gives a fivebrane which is related to the fundamental type $II$ string by electric -- magnetic duality, and to the Dirichlet fivebrane of type $IIB$ string theory by $SL(2, Z)$.Comment: 9 pages, harvmac; a few additional comments and reference