Lie-algebra expansions, Chern-Simons theories and the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian

Starting from gravity as a Chern-Simons action for the AdS algebra in five dimensions, it is possible to modify the theory through an expansion of the Lie algebra that leads to a system consisting of the Einstein-Hilbert action plus non-minimally coupled matter. The modified system is gauge invariant under the Poincaré group enlarged by an Abelian ideal. Although the resulting action naively looks like general relativity plus corrections due to matter sources, it is shown that the non-minimal couplings produce a radical departure from GR. Indeed, the dynamics is not continuously connected to the one obtained from Einstein-Hilbert action. In a matter-free configuration and in the torsionless sector, the field equations are too strong a restriction on the geometry as the metric must satisfy both the Einstein and pure Gauss-Bonnet equations. In particular, the five-dimensional Schwarzschild geometry fails to be a solution; however, configurations corresponding to a brane-world with positive cosmological constant on the worldsheet are admissible when one of the matter fields is switched on. These results can be extended to higher odd dimensions.