Dimensional reduction of gauge theories, spontaneous compactification and model building (Q1188883)

A promising approach to find a theory encompassing all basic interactions is based on a Kaluza-Klein theory where the gravitational field interacts with bosonic matter fields on a manifold E of dimension dim E\(>4\). Vacua are usually considered which correspond to factorizations \(E=M\times (G/H)\), where M is spacetime, and G is a (compact connected Lie) symmetry group acting on G with stabilizer H. The book under consideration concisely reviews the dimensional reduction method in the sector of G- symmetric modes in three important instances: 1) pure Yang-Mills theories; 2) pure gravity (with or without torsion); and 3) matter fields (including fermions). In addition, a remarkable relation between the dimensional reduction of pure Yang-Mills models and the spontaneous compactification of the coupled Einstein-Yang-Mills system is discussed, and several aspects of model building are commented upon. The authors succeed in preserving the global geometric flavor of the topic, what undoubtly enhances the elegance of the account.