Gravity and Mirror Gravity in Plebanski Formulation

TL;DR

This paper explores various formulations of four-dimensional gravity within the Plebanski framework, including dual, mirror, and torsion-inclusive theories, and develops a pure connection gauge theory with calculated partition function and effective Lagrangian.

Contribution

It introduces a unified view of different gravity theories in Plebanski formulation and proposes a pure connection gauge theory of gravity with detailed quantum properties.

Findings

Equivalence of ordinary, dual, and torsion gravity sectors in Plebanski formulation.

Development of a pure connection gauge theory of gravity.

Calculation of partition function and effective Lagrangian for the theory.

Abstract

We present several theories of four-dimensional gravity in the Plebanski formulation, in which the tetrads and the connections are the independent dynamical variables. We consider the relation between different versions of gravitational theories: Einstenian, dual, 'mirror' gravities and gravity with torsion. According to Plebanski's assumption, our world, in which we live, is described by the self-dual left-handed gravity. We propose that if the Mirror World exists in Nature, then the 'mirror gravity' is the right-handed anti-self-dual gravity with broken mirror parity. Considering a special version of the Riemann--Cartan space-time, which has torsion as additional geometric property, we have shown that in the Plebanski formulation the ordinary and dual sectors of gravity, as well as the gravity with torsion, are equivalent. In this context, we have also developed a 'pure connection gravity' -- a diffeomorphism-invariant gauge theory of gravity. We have calculated the partition function and the effective Lagrangian of this four-dimensional gravity and have investigated the limit of this theory at small distances.