The Gauss-Bonnet topological scalar in the geometric trinity of gravity

The Gauss-Bonnet topological scalar is presented in metric-teleparallel formalism as well as in the symmetric and general teleparallel formulations. In all of the aforementioned frameworks, the full expressions are provided explicitly in terms of torsion, non-metricity and Levi-Civita covariant derivative. The number of invariant terms of this form is counted and compared with the number which can appear in the corresponding effective field theory (EFT). Although the difference in this number is not very large, it is found that the Gauss-Bonnet invariant excludes some of the EFT terms. This result sheds new light on how General Relativity symmetries can be maintained at higher order in teleparallel theories: this fact appears to be highly nontrivial in the teleparallel formulation. The importance of the so-called "pseudo-invariant" theories like f(T)- and f(T, T-G)-gravity is further discussed in the context of teleparallel Gauss-Bonnet gravity.