Topical Seminar: On the characterization of Generalized Quasitopological Gravities

por Ángel Murcia

jueves 29 jun. 2023 12:00 → 13:30 Europe/Madrid

4-4-4426 - Seminari Física Teòrica (Campus Burjassot)

Higher-order gravities are extensions of General Relativity (GR) which introduce in the classical action terms of higher-order in the curvature (i.e., terms with a finite number of contractions of curvature tensors, such as a Ricci-scalar squared term). These theories could be understood as effective descriptions of potential theories of Quantum Gravity in regimes of energies which are above the GR validity limit, but still way below the energy range in which a full quantum description is required. Among the infinite set of higher-order gravities, in this talk I will focus on the particular class of Generalized Quasitopological Gravities (GQGs). Specifically, I will start by reviewing the main properties of GQGs, explaining their relevance among the infinite classes of higher-order gravities. Then, I will present the classification of all inequivalent GQGs, demonstrating their existence for every space-time dimension bigger or equal than four and for every curvature order. Finally, I will show how non-minimal couplings to a U(1) gauge field may be added consistently, discovering theories that admit completely regular electric black hole solutions.