Higher-spin gravity and torsion on quantized space-time in matrix models

Abstract: A geometric formalism is developed which allows to describe the non-linear regime of higher-spin gravity emerging on a cosmological quantum space-time in the IKKT matrix model. The vacuum solutions are Ricci-flat up to an effective vacuum energy-momentum tensor quadratic in the torsion, which arises from a Weitzenb\"ock-type higher spin connection. Torsion is expected to be significant only at cosmic scales and around very massive objects, and could behave like dark matter. A non-linear equation for the torsion tensor is found, which encodes the Yang-Mills equations of the matrix model. The metric and torsion transform covariantly under a higher-spin generalization of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms, which arises from the gauge invariance of the matrix model.