Double copy of 3D Chern-Simons theory and 6D Kodaira-Spencer gravity

Abstract

We apply an algebraic double copy construction of gravity from gauge theory to three-dimensional (3D) Chern-Simons theory. The kinematic algebra K is the 3D de Rham complex of forms equipped, for a choice of metric, with a graded Lie algebra that is equivalent to the Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket on polyvector fields. The double copied gravity is defined on a subspace of K⊗K¯ and yields a topological double field theory for a generalized metric perturbation and two 2-forms. This local and gauge invariant theory is non-Lagrangian but can be rendered Lagrangian by abandoning locality. Upon fixing a gauge this reduces to the double copy of Chern-Simons theory previously proposed by Ben-Shahar and Johansson. Furthermore, using complex coordinates in C3 this theory is related to six-dimensional (6D) Kodaira-Spencer gravity in that truncating the two 2-forms and one equation yields the Kodaira-Spencer equations on a 3D real slice of C3. The full 6D Kodaira-Spencer theory can instead be obtained as a consistent truncation of a chiral double copy. Published by the American Physical Society 2024