Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equation

Abstract Plebanski’s second heavenly equation reduces the problem of finding a self-dual Einstein metric to solving a non-linear second-order PDE for a single function. Plebanski’s original equation is for self-dual metrics obtained as perturbations of the flat metric. Recently, a version of this eq...

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Main Authors: Kirill Krasnov, Arthur Lipstein
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-03-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2025)152
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author Kirill Krasnov
Arthur Lipstein
author_facet Kirill Krasnov
Arthur Lipstein
author_sort Kirill Krasnov
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Plebanski’s second heavenly equation reduces the problem of finding a self-dual Einstein metric to solving a non-linear second-order PDE for a single function. Plebanski’s original equation is for self-dual metrics obtained as perturbations of the flat metric. Recently, a version of this equation was discovered for self-dual metrics arising as perturbations around a constant curvature background. We provide a new simple derivation of both versions of the Plebanski second heavenly equation. Our derivation relies on the “pure connection” description of self-dual gravity. Our results also suggest a new interpretation to the kinematic algebra of self-dual Yang-Mills theory, as the Lie algebra of (0, 1) vector fields on a ℝ 4 endowed with a complex structure.
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spelling doaj-art-ced0b53d6dab4d48a549687436161fcb2025-08-20T02:11:55ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792025-03-012025311710.1007/JHEP03(2025)152Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equationKirill Krasnov0Arthur Lipstein1School of Mathematical Sciences, University of NottinghamDepartment of Mathematical Sciences, Durham UniversityAbstract Plebanski’s second heavenly equation reduces the problem of finding a self-dual Einstein metric to solving a non-linear second-order PDE for a single function. Plebanski’s original equation is for self-dual metrics obtained as perturbations of the flat metric. Recently, a version of this equation was discovered for self-dual metrics arising as perturbations around a constant curvature background. We provide a new simple derivation of both versions of the Plebanski second heavenly equation. Our derivation relies on the “pure connection” description of self-dual gravity. Our results also suggest a new interpretation to the kinematic algebra of self-dual Yang-Mills theory, as the Lie algebra of (0, 1) vector fields on a ℝ 4 endowed with a complex structure.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2025)152de Sitter spaceClassical Theories of GravityIntegrable Field Theories
spellingShingle Kirill Krasnov
Arthur Lipstein
Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equation
Journal of High Energy Physics
de Sitter space
Classical Theories of Gravity
Integrable Field Theories
title Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equation
title_full Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equation
title_fullStr Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equation
title_full_unstemmed Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equation
title_short Pure connection formalism and Plebanski’s second heavenly equation
title_sort pure connection formalism and plebanski s second heavenly equation
topic de Sitter space
Classical Theories of Gravity
Integrable Field Theories
url https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2025)152
work_keys_str_mv AT kirillkrasnov pureconnectionformalismandplebanskissecondheavenlyequation
AT arthurlipstein pureconnectionformalismandplebanskissecondheavenlyequation