Bonn 2001 – scientific programme

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GR: Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie

GR II: HV II

GR II.1: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 27, 2001, 10:15–11:00, VII

How inevitable is general relativity? The cohomological approach — •Marc Henneaux — Université Libre de Bruxelles, Physique Théorique et Mathématique, B-1050 Bruxelles

One remarkable feature of general relativity is its rigidity. As Einstein himself noted, it seems to be impossible to modify general relativity without destroying its whole structure. The talk will be devoted to attempts at modifying general relativity by developing theories of gravity which involve different types of interacting, massless particles of helicity two. It will be shown why and how such attempts fail. The approach will be based on the cohomological approach to theories with a gauge freedom, which will be reviewed.