Infrared modified gravity with dynamical torsion

Abstract

We continue the recent study of the possibility of constructing a consistent infrared modification of gravity by treating the vierbein and connection as independent dynamical fields. We present the generalized Fierz-Pauli equation that governs the propagation of a massive spin-2 mode in a model of this sort in the backgrounds of arbitrary torsionless Einstein manifolds. We show explicitly that the number of propagating degrees of freedom in these backgrounds remains the same as in flat space-time. This generalizes the recent result that the Boulware-Deser phenomenon does not occur in de Sitter and anti-de Sitter backgrounds. We find that, at least for weakly curved backgrounds, there are no ghosts in the model. We also discuss the interaction of sources in flat background. It is generally believed that the spinning matter is the only source of torsion. Our flat space study shows that this is not the case. We demonstrate that an ordinary conserved symmetric energy-momentum tensor can also generate torsion fields and thus excite massive spin-2 degrees of freedom.