The gravitational and electroweak interactions unified as a gauge theory of the De Sitter group

Abstract

The complexified gauging of the de Sitter group gives a unified theory for the electroweak and gravitational interactions. The standard spectrum for the electroweak gauge bosons is recovered with the correct mass assignments, following a spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetry imposed by the geometry. There is no conventional Higgs sector. New physics is predicted with gravity-induced electroweak processes (at the electroweak and at an intermediate scale of about $10^{10}Gev$) as well as with novel-type of effects (such as gravitational Aharonov-Bohm and violations of the Principle of equivalence to 1 part in $10^{17}$). The new theoretical perspectives emerging from this geometric unification are briefly discussed.

Comments: Revision, based on the preliminary version in Physics Letters B, contains calculational details and novel findings. Latex, 17 pages, no figures