Topological quantization of gravitational fields as generalized harmonic maps

Abstract

We apply the topological quantization method to some gravitational fields which can be represented as generalized harmonic maps. This representation extends the well-known concept of harmonic maps and allows us to describe some solutions to the Einstein field equations as generalized strings, where the base space for the generalized harmonic map is a two-dimensional manifold. The results obtained here point to an incompatibility of the classical description of the gravitational field and its symmetries with a discretization of the parameters that enter in its description.

23 pages