Gravity in 2+1 dimensions as a Riemann-Hilbert problem

Abstract

In this paper we consider 2+1-dimensional gravity coupled to N point-particles. We introduce a gauge in which the $z$- and $\bar{z}$-components of the dreibein field become holomorphic and anti-holomorphic respectively. As a result we can restrict ourselves to the complex plane. Next we show that solving the dreibein-field: $e^a_z(z)$ is equivalent to solving the Riemann-Hilbert problem for the group $SO(2,1)$. We give the explicit solution for 2 particles in terms of hypergeometric functions. In the N-particle case we give a representation in terms of conformal field theory. The dreibeins are expressed as correlators of 2 free fermion fields and twistoperators at the position of the particles.

32 pages Latex, 4 figures (uuencoded)