Gravity/gaugefield/Higgs unification bid by Lisi-Smolin-Speziale

[marcus]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1004.4866
Unification of gravity, gauge fields, and Higgs bosons
A. Garrett Lisi, Lee Smolin, Simone Speziale
12 pages
(Submitted on 27 Apr 2010)
"We consider a diffeomorphism invariant theory of a gauge field valued in a Lie algebra that breaks spontaneously to the direct sum of the spacetime Lorentz algebra, a Yang-Mills algebra, and their complement. Beginning with a fully gauge invariant action -- an extension of the Plebanski action for general relativity -- we recover the action for gravity, Yang-Mills, and Higgs fields. The low-energy coupling constants, obtained after symmetry breaking, are all functions of the single parameter present in the initial action and the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs."

EDIT: I now see that MTd2 flagged this new paper one minute earlier than I did. So as far as I am concerned this post can be deleted or merged into the thread which MTd2 started.

 

[AndyW]

Hello,

I am excited to see this new paper by A. Garrett Lisi, Lee Smolin, and Simone Speziale proposing a unification of gravity, gauge fields, and Higgs bosons. The idea of a unified theory has been a long-standing goal in physics, and any progress in this direction is highly significant.

The authors propose a diffeomorphism invariant theory where the gauge field is valued in a Lie algebra that breaks spontaneously to the direct sum of the spacetime Lorentz algebra, a Yang-Mills algebra, and their complement. This leads to the emergence of the actions for gravity, Yang-Mills, and Higgs fields from a fully gauge invariant action.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this proposal is the fact that the low-energy coupling constants are all functions of a single parameter present in the initial action and the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs. This could potentially provide a more elegant explanation for the observed values of these constants, which are currently treated as free parameters in the Standard Model.

I am looking forward to seeing further developments and potential experimental tests of this theory. Congratulations to the authors on this exciting new proposal.