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Minimal massive gravity in three dimensions propagates a single massive spin-2 mode around an AdS vacuum. It is distinguished by allowing for vacua with positive central charges of the asymptotic conformal algebra and a bulk graviton of positive energy. We present a new action for the model (and its higher order extensions) in terms of a dreibein and an independent spin connection. From this, we construct its supersymmetric extension. Surprisingly, all vacua complying with bulk and boundary unitarity appear to break supersymmetry spontaneously. In contrast, all supersymmetric vacua have a negative central charge whenever the bulk graviton has positive energy., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure v2: matches published version

We construct three-dimensional, N=1 off-shell supersymmetric massive Yang-Mills (YM) theory whose YM equation is “third-way” consistent. This means that the field equations of this model do not come from variation of a local action without additional fields, yet the gauge-covariant divergence of the YM equation still vanishes on shell. To achieve this, we modify the massive Majorana spinor equation so that its supersymmetry variation gives a modified YM equation whose bosonic part coincides with the third-way consistent pure massive YM model.

We construct explicit examples of non-relativistic supersymmetric field theories on curved Newton-Cartan three-manifolds. These results are obtained by performing a null reduction of four-dimensional supersymmetric field theories on Lorentzian manifolds and the Killing spinor equations that their supersymmetry parameters obey. This gives rise to a set of algebraic and differential Killing spinor equations that are obeyed by the supersymmetry parameters of the resulting three-dimensional non-relativistic field theories. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions that determine whether a Newton-Cartan background admits non-trivial solutions of these Killing spinor equations. Two classes of examples of Newton-Cartan backgrounds that obey these conditions are discussed. The first class is characterised by an integrable foliation, corresponding to so-called twistless torsional geometries, and includes manifolds whose spatial slices are isomorphic to the Poincar\'e disc. The second class of examples has a non-integrable foliation structure and corresponds to contact manifolds., Comment: 43 pages

Nonrelativistic string theory is described by a sigma model with a relativistic worldsheet and a nonrelativistic target spacetime geometry, that is called string Newton-Cartan geometry. In this paper we obtain string Newton-Cartan geometry as a limit of the Riemannian geometry of General Relativity with a fluxless two-form field. We then apply the same limit to relativistic string theory in curved background fields and show that it leads to nonrelativistic string theory in a string Newton-Cartan geometry coupled to a Kalb-Ramond and dilaton field background. Finally, we use our limiting procedure to study the spacetime equations of motion and the T-duality transformations of nonrelativistic string theory. Our results reproduce the recent studies of beta-functions and T-duality of nonrelativistic string theory obtained from the microscopic worldsheet definition of nonrelativistic string theory., 41 pages

The non-relativistic version of General Relativity, called Newton-Cartan gravity, has received renewed attention as a tool to explore (non-perturbative) properties of non-relativistic quantum field theories. The first part of this talk is a non-specialist introduction to Newton-Cartan geometry; in particular, it is shown how Newton-Cartan gravity arises as a special limit of General Relativity. The second part reviews a novel non-relativistic limit of the 3D massive spin-2 Fierz-Pauli theory to a spin-2 planar Schrodinger equation that has been proposed to describe the so-called GMP gapped spin-2 mode of fractional Quantum Hall states. The talk concludes with speculations on an extension of this non-relativistic limit to interacting massive 3D gravity theories.

In this paper we study the supermultiplet structure of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = (1, 1) General Massive Supergravity at non-critical and critical points of its parameter space. To do this, we first linearize the theory around its maximally supersymmetric AdS3 vacuum and obtain the full linearized Lagrangian including fermionic terms. At generic values, linearized modes can be organized as two massless and 2 massive multiplets where supersymmetry relates them in the standard way. At critical points logarithmic modes appear and we find that in three of such points some of the supersymmetry transformations are non-invertible in logarithmic multiplets. However, in the fourth critical point, there is a massive logarithmic multiplet with invertible supersymmetry transformations.

We describe non-relativistic limits of the 3D Proca and $\sqrt{\rm Proca}$ theories that yield spin-1 Schroedinger equations. Analogous results are found by generalized null reduction of the 4D Maxwell or complex self-dual Maxwell equations. We briefly discuss the extension to spin-2., The work of PKT is partially supported by the STFC consolidated grant ST/P000681/1.

A Schroedinger equation proposed for the GMP gapped spin-2 mode of fractional Quantum Hall states is found from a novel non-relativistic limit, applicable only in 2+1 dimensions, of the massive spin-2 Fierz-Pauli field equations. It is also found from a novel null reduction of the linearized Einstein field equations in 3+1 dimensions, and in this context a uniform distribution of spin-2 particles implies, via a Brinkmann-wave solution of the non-linear Einstein equations, a confining harmonic oscillator potential for the individual particles., Comment: 5 pages. Additional references, with discussion, in v2, plus improved analysis of parity violation

We compare the gauging of the Bargmann algebra, for the case of arbitrary torsion, with the result that one obtains from a null-reduction of General Relativity. Whereas the two procedures lead to the same result for Newton-Cartan geometry with arbitrary torsion, the null-reduction of the Einstein equations necessarily leads to Newton-Cartan gravity with zero torsion. We show, for three space-time dimensions, how Newton-Cartan gravity with arbitrary torsion can be obtained by starting from a Schroedinger field theory with dynamical exponent z=2 for a complex compensating scalar and next coupling this field theory to a z=2 Schroedinger geometry with arbitrary torsion. The latter theory can be obtained from either a gauging of the Schroedinger algebra, for arbitrary torsion, or from a null-reduction of conformal gravity., 21 pages

In this presentation we give a short overview of Newton-Cartan geometry and gravity and some recent results about its matter couplings.

We discuss a non-relativistic contraction of massive and massless field theories minimally coupled to gravity. Using the non-relativistic limiting procedure introduced in our previous work, we (re-)derive non-relativistic field theories of massive and massless spins 0 to 3/2 coupled to torsionless Newton-Cartan backgrounds. We elucidate the relativistic origin of the Newton-Cartan central charge gauge field $m_\mu$ and explain its relation to particle number conservation., Comment: 19 pages

We give a short overview of Newton–Cartan geometry and gravity including its matter couplings. We also present results on a new non-relativistic gravity model in three spacetime dimensions, called extended Bargmann gravity, and show that this model has matter couplings that differ from those of Newton–Cartan gravity.

We construct a four-dimensional (4D) gauge theory that propagates, unitarily, the five polarization modes of a massive spin-2 particle. These modes are described by a "dual" graviton gauge potential and the Lagrangian is 4th-order in derivatives. As the construction mimics that of 3D "new massive gravity", we call this 4D model (linearized) "new massive dual gravity". We analyse its massless limit, and discuss similarities to the Eddington-Schroedinger model., Comment: 17 pages, v2 : version published in JHEP

We show that three-dimensional General Relativity, augmented with two vector fields, allows for a non-relativistic limit, different from the standard limit leading to Newtonian gravity, that results into a well-defined action which is of the Chern-Simons type. We show that this three-dimensional `Extended Bargmann Gravity', after coupling to matter, leads to equations of motion allowing a wider class of background geometries than the ones that one encounters in Newtonian gravity. We give the supersymmetric generalization of these results and point out an important application in the context of calculating partition functions of non-relativistic field theories using localization techniques., Comment: 6 pages, v2: typo's corrected, reference updated, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

We initiate the study of non- and ultra-relativistic higher spin theories. For sake of simplicity we focus on the spin-3 case in three dimensions. We classify all kinematical algebras that can be obtained by all possible In\"on\"u--Wigner contraction procedures of the kinematical algebra of spin-3 theory in three dimensional (anti-) de Sitter space-time. We demonstrate how to construct associated actions of Chern--Simons type, directly in the ultra-relativistic case and by suitable algebraic extensions in the non-relativistic case. We show how to give these kinematical algebras an infinite-dimensional lift by imposing suitable boundary conditions in a theory we call "Carroll Gravity", whose asymptotic symmetry algebra turns out to be an infinite-dimensional extension of the Carroll algebra., Comment: 32+12 pages, 2 figures; v2: 1 footnote, 4 refs; v3: 1 ref corrected, 1 ref updated

The general actions of matter-coupled N=1 supergravity have Peccei-Quinn terms that may violate gauge and supersymmetry invariance. In addition, N=1 supergravity with vector multiplets may also contain generalized Chern-Simons terms. These have often been neglected in the literature despite their importance for gauge and supersymmetry invariance. We clarify the interplay of Peccei-Quinn terms, generalized Chern-Simons terms and quantum anomalies in the context of N=1 supergravity and exhibit conditions that have to be satisfied for their mutual consistency. This extension of the previously known N=1 matter-coupled supergravity actions follows naturally from the embedding of the gauge group into the group of symplectic duality transformations. Our results regarding this extension provide the supersymmetric framework for studies of string compactifications with axionic shift symmetries, generalized Chern-Simons terms and quantum anomalies.

We construct exact cosmological scaling solutions in N=8 gauged supergravity. We restrict to solutions for which the scalar fields trace out geodesic curves on the scalar manifold. Under these restrictions it is shown that the axionic scalars are necessarily constant. The potential is then a sum of exponentials and has a very specific form that allows for scaling solutions. The scaling solutions describe eternal accelerating and decelerating power-law universes, which are all unstable. An uplift of the solutions to 11-dimensional supergravity is carried out and the resulting timedependent geometries are discussed. In the discussion we briefly comment on the fact that N=2 gauged supergravity allows stable scaling solutions.

We derive a torsionfull version of three-dimensional $$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$ Newton-Cartan supergravity using a non-relativistic notion of the superconformal tensor calculus. The “superconformal” theory that we start with is Schrodinger supergravity which we obtain by gauging the Schrodinger superalgebra. We present two non-relativistic $$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$ matter multiplets that can be used as compensators in the superconformal calculus. They lead to two different off-shell formulations which, in analogy with the relativistic case, we call “old minimal” and “new minimal” Newton-Cartan supergravity. We find similarities but also point out some differences with respect to the relativistic case.

We develop a lattice diagrammatic technique for calculating the chiral condensate of QCD at infinite coupling inspired by recent work of Tomboulis and earlier work from the 80's. The technique involves calculating the contribution of gauge link diagrams formed from all possible combinations of a number of sub-diagram types. This is achieved by performing a resummation, using a truncated number of sub-diagram types. We show how to calculate the relevant sub-diagrams, including a new technique for evaluating group integrals with arbitrary number of gauge link elements, using Young Projectors. Including up to four different diagram types we calculate the chiral condensate as a function of Nf, and show that two real solutions result, which are non-zero for all integer Nf. We analyse these solutions and find signs of convergence of the expansion at small Nf. We discuss sources of error associated with this approach in detail and implement a technique to reduce over-counting of diagrams., Comment: 47 pages, including 2 appendices, 10 plots

We show that by gauging the Schrodinger algebra with critical exponent z and imposing suitable curvature constraints, that make diffeomorphisms equivalent to time and space translations, one obtains a geometric structure known as (twistless) torsional Newton-Cartan geometry (TTNC). This is a version of torsional Newton-Cartan geometry (TNC) in which the timelike vielbein t mu must be hypersurface orthogonal. For z = 2 this version of TTNC geometry is very closely related to the one appearing in holographic duals of z = 2 Lifshitz space-times based on Einstein gravity coupled to massive vector fields in the bulk. For z not equal 2 there is however an extra degree of freedom b(0) that does not appear in the holographic setup. We show that the result of the gauging procedure can be extended to include a Stuckelberg scalar chi that shifts under the particle number generator of the Schrodinger algebra, as well as an extra special conformal symmetry that allows one to gauge away b(0). The resulting version of TTNC geometry is the one that appears in the holographic setup. This shows that Schrodinger symmetries play a crucial role in holography for Lifshitz space-times and that in fact the entire boundary geometry is dictated by local Schrodinger invariance. Finally we show how to extend the formalism to generic TNC geometries by relaxing the hypersurface orthogonality condition for the timelike vielbein tau(mu).

The formulation of hypermultiplets that has been developed for 5-dimensional matter multiplets is by dimensional reductions translated into the appropriate spinor language for 6 and 4 dimensions. We also treat the theories without actions that have the geometrical structure of hypercomplex geometry. The latter is the generalization of hyper-Kaehler geometry that does not require a Hermitian metric and hence corresponds to field equations without action. The translation tables of this paper allow the direct application of superconformal tensor calculus for the hypermultiplets using the available Weyl multiplets in 6 and 4 dimensions. Furthermore, the hypermultiplets in 3 dimensions that result from reduction of vector multiplets in 4 dimensions are considered, leading to a superconformal formulation of the c-map and an expression for the main geometric quantities of the hyper-Kaehler manifolds in the image of this map.

Critical gravities originated in the context of three-dimensional massive gravities. They were conjectured to describe gravitational duals of two-dimensional logarithmic conformal field theories. In this talk, we show that critical gravities can also be studied in dimensions d > 3. As in three dimensions, higher-dimensional critical gravities exhibit logarithmic modes. We argue that the existence of these logarithmic modes leads one to conjecture that higher-dimensional critical gravities are dual to logarithmic conformal field theories in more than two dimensions.

We calculate the chiral condensate of QCD at infinite coupling as a function of the number of fundamental fermion flavours using a lattice diagrammatic approach inspired by recent work of Tomboulis, and other work from the 80's. We outline the approach where the diagrams are formed by combining a truncated number of sub-diagram types in all possible ways. Our results show evidence of convergence and agreement with simulation results at small Nf. However, contrary to recent simulation results, we do not observe a transition at a critical value of Nf. We further present preliminary results for the chiral condensate of QCD with symmetric or adjoint representation fermions at infinite coupling as a function of Nf for Nc = 3. In general, there are sources of error in this approach associated with miscounting of overlapping diagrams, and over-counting of diagrams due to symmetries. These are further elaborated upon in a longer paper., Comment: presented at the 32nd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2014), 23-28 June 2014, New York, NY, USA

Using a component formulation, we construct the supersymmetric action for a superparticle in a three-dimensional Newton-Cartan supergravity background and clarify its symmetries. Our construction proceeds by first constructing the superparticle in a flat background. Next, by boosting up the background symmetries, we replace in a first step the flat background by a Galilean supergravity background. In a second step the Galilean supergravity background is replaced by a Newton-Cartan supergravity background. We extend our results by adding a supersymmetric cosmological constant and compare the non-relativistic superparticle with the relativistic kappa-symmetric three-dimensional superparticle., 36 pages; v2: added references; v3: more refs; matches published version

We investigate generic flat-space higher spin theories in three dimensions and find a no-go result, given certain assumptions that we spell out. Namely, it is only possible to have at most two out of the following three properties: unitarity, flat space, non-trivial higher spin states. Interestingly, unitarity provides an (algebra-dependent) upper bound on the central charge, like c=42 for the Galilean $W_4^{(2-1-1)}$ algebra. We extend this no-go result to rule out unitary "multi-graviton" theories in flat space. We also provide an example circumventing the no-go result: Vasiliev-type flat space higher spin theory based on hs(1) can be unitary and simultaneously allow for non-trivial higher-spin states in the dual field theory., 34 pp, v2: added two paragraphs in section 5.3 + minor changes

We introduce flat space spin-3 gravity in the presence of chemical potentials and discuss some applications to flat space cosmology solutions, their entropy, free energy and flat space orbifold singularity resolution. Our results include flat space Einstein gravity with chemical potentials as special case. We discover novel types of phase transitions between flat space cosmologies with spin-3 hair and show that the branch that continuously connects to spin-2 gravity becomes thermodynamically unstable for sufficiently large temperature or spin-3 chemical potential., Comment: 42 pages, v2: added references and comparison with AdS results by David, Ferlaino and Kumar

We construct a supersymmetric extension of three-dimensional Newton-Cartan gravity by gauging a super-Bargmann algebra. In order to obtain a non-trivial supersymmetric extension of the Bargmann algebra one needs at least two supersymmetries leading to a N = 2 super-Bargmann algebra. Due to the fact that there is a universal Newtonian time, only one of the two supersymmetries can be gauged. The other supersymmetry is realized as a fermionic Stueckelberg symmetry and only survives as a global supersymmetry. We explicitly show how, in the frame of a Galilean observer, the system reduces to a supersymmetric extension of the Newton potential. The corresponding supersymmetry rules can only be defined, provided we also introduce a 'dual Newton potential'. We comment on the four-dimensional case.

We present the first example of a nontrivial higher spin theory in three-dimensional flat space. We propose flat-space boundary conditions and prove their consistency for this theory. We find that the asymptotic symmetry algebra is a (centrally extended) higher spin generalization of the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs algebra, which we describe in detail. We also address higher spin analogues of flat space cosmology solutions and possible generalizations.

We review the relations between Jordan cells in various branches of physics, ranging from quantum mechanics to massive gravity theories. Our main focus is on holographic correspondences between critically tuned gravity theories in Anti-de Sitter space and logarithmic conformal field theories in various dimensions. We summarize the developments in the past five years, include some novel generalizations and provide an outlook on possible future developments., 36 pp + references, invited review article for J.Phys.A special issue, v2: minor changes, added refs

We show that the recently constructed 3D higher-derivative “New Massive Gravity theory” is the result of a general procedure that allows one to construct, in the free case, higher-derivative gauge theories for a wide class of “spins” in diverse dimensions. We specify the criterium that the “spin” and dimension need to satisfy in order for the construction to apply. To clarify the general procedure we present examples of higher-derivative gauge theories for the special cases of spin 1 in D=3, 5 and 7 dimensions. We next apply the procedure to spin 2 in D=3 dimensions and show how the New Massive Gravity and Topological Massive Gravity theories are constructed. Both theories allow interactions. We indicate how and under which conditions the 3D New Massive Gravity theory can be extended to D=4 dimensions and the 3D Topological Massive Gravity theory can be extended to D=7 dimensions. We discuss the issue of interactions of these two theories.

We construct a supersymmetric formulation of linearized New Massive Gravity without introducing higher derivatives. Instead, we introduce supersymmetrically a set of bosonic and fermionic auxiliary fields which, upon elimination by their equations of motion, introduce fourth-order derivative terms for the metric and third-order derivative terms for the gravitino. Our construction requires an off-shell formulation of the three-dimensional supersymmetric massive Fierz-Pauli theory. We discuss the non-linear extension of our results., Comment: 31 pages; v2: minor changes, added references/published version

We investigate in which sense, at the linearized level, one can extend the 3D topologically massive gravity theory beyond three dimensions. We show that, for each k=1,2,3... a free topologically massive gauge theory in 4k-1 dimensions can be defined describing a massive "spin-2" particle provided one uses a non-standard representation of the massive "spin-2" state which makes use of a two-column Young tableau where each column is of height 2k-1. We work out the case of k=2, i.e. 7D, and show, by canonical analysis, that the model describes, unitarily, 35 massive "spin-2" degrees of freedom. The issue of interactions is discussed and compared with the three-dimensional situation., Comment: 14 pages. v2: minor changes - published version

We consider a class of parity even, six-derivative gravity theories in three dimensions. After linearizing around anti-de Sitter space, the theories have one massless and two massive graviton solutions for generic values of the parameters. At a special, so-called tricritical, point in parameter space the two massive graviton solutions become massless and they are replaced by two solutions with logarithmic and logarithmic-squared boundary behavior. The theory at this point is conjectured to be dual to a rank-3 Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory (LCFT) whose boundary stress tensor, central charges and new anomaly we calculate. We also calculate the conserved Abbott-Deser-Tekin charges. At the tricritical point, these vanish for excitations that obey Brown-Henneaux and logarithmic boundary conditions, while they are generically non-zero for excitations that show logarithmic-squared boundary behavior. This suggests that a truncation of the tricritical gravity theory and its corresponding dual LCFT can be realized either via boundary conditions on the allowed gravitational excitations, or via restriction to a zero charge sub-sector. We comment on the structure of the truncated theory., 37 pages, 2 figures; v2: added reference; published version

We investigate a higher-derivative scalar field model in a fixed d+1 dimensional AdS background as a toy model for a gravitational dual to a higher-rank logarithmic CFT. The holographic two-point correlation functions on the boundary agree with higher-rank LCFT correlation functions. For odd rank, the theory allows for a truncation to a nontrivial subspace with non-negative scalar product. We discuss possible implications for higher-derivative critical gravity theories., 23 pages. As accepted for publication in JHEP

A 6th-order, but ghost-free, gauge-invariant action is found for a 4th-rank symmetric tensor potential in a three-dimensional (3D) Minkowski spacetime. It propagates two massive modes of spin 4 that are interchanged by parity, and is thus a spin-4 analog of linearized "new massive gravity". Also found are ghost-free spin-4 analogs of linearized "topologically massive gravity" and "new topologically massive gravity", of 5th- and 8th-order respectively., 16 pages, v2 : version published in Class. Quant. Grav