We study a three-dimensional Chern-Simons gravity theory based on the Maxwell algebra. We find that the boundary dynamics is described by an enlargement and deformation of the bms 3 algebra with three independent central charges. This symmetry arises from a gravity action invariant under the local Maxwell group and is characterized by presence of Abelian generators which modify the commutation relations of the super-translations in the standard bms 3 algebra. Our analysis is based on the charge algebra of the theory in the BMS gauge, which includes the known solutions of standard asymptotically flat case. The field content of the theory is different than the one of General Relativity, but it includes all its geometries as particular solutions. In this line, we also study the stationary solutions of the theory in ADM form and we show that the vacuum energy and the vacuum angular momentum of the stationary configuration are influenced by the presence of the gravitational Maxwell field.

We show that the so-called semi-simple extended Poincaré (SSEP) algebra in D dimensions can be obtained from the anti-de Sitter algebra so (D − 1, 2) by means of the S-expansion procedure with an appropriate semigroup S. A general prescription is given for computing Casimir operators for S-expanded algebras, and the method is exemplified for the SSEP algebra. The S-expansion method also allows us to extract the corresponding invariant tensor for the SSEP algebra, which is a key ingredient in the construction of a generalized action for Chern-Simons gravity in 2 + 1

We explore the possibility of finding Pure Lovelock gravity as a particular limit of a ChernSimons action for a specific expansion of the AdS algebra in odd dimensions. We derive in details this relation at the level of the action in five and seven dimensions. We provide a general result for higher dimensions and discuss some issues arising from the obtained dynamics.

We study dynamical structure of Pure Lovelock gravity in spacetime dimensions higher than four using the Hamiltonian formalism. The action consists of cosmological constant and a single higher-order polynomial in the Riemann tensor. Similarly to Einstein-Hilbert action, it possesses a unique constant curvature vacuum and charged black hole solutions. We analyze physical degrees of freedom and local symmetries in this theory. In contrast to the Einstein-Hilbert case, a number of degrees of freedom depends on the background and can vary from zero to the maximal value carried by the Lovelock theory. * nkd@iucaa.ernet.in † remigiusz.durka@ucv.cl ‡ nelson.merino@ucv.cl § olivera.miskovic@pucv.cl