Chern-Simons field theory on the general affine group, $3d$-gravity and the extension of Cartan connections

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the correspondence between $3d$-gravity and the Chern-Simons field theory from the perspective of geometric mechanics, specifically in the case where the structure group is the general affine group. To accomplish this, the paper discusses a variational problem of the Chern-Simons type on a principal fiber bundle with this group as its structure group. The connection to the usual Chern-Simons theory is established by utilizing a generalization, in the context of Cartan connections, of the notion of extension and reduction of connections.