Conservation law for massive scale-invariant photons in Weyl-invariant gravity

Abstract

It is demonstrated that a Stückelberg-type gauge theory, coupled to the scalar–tensor theory of gravity, is invariant under both gauge and Weyl transformations. Unlike the pure Stückelberg theory, this coupled Lagrangian has a genuine Weyl symmetry, with a non-vanishing current. The above is true in the Jordan frame, whereas in the Einstein frame, the same theory manifests as Proca theory in presence of pure gravity. It is found that broken scale invariance leads to simultaneous spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetry.