On the equivalence between Sáez–Ballester theory and Einstein-scalar field system

Abstract

Here, we discuss a topic that comes up more often than expected: A same theory or theoretical model arises in two different presentations which are assumed to be actually different theories so that these are independently developed. Sometimes this leads to an unwanted doubling of the results. In this paper, we illustrate this issue with the example of two apparently different gravitational theories: (i) the (minimally coupled) Einstein-massless-scalar (EMS) system and (ii) the Sáez–Ballester theory (SBT). We demonstrate that the latter is not a scalar–tensor theory of gravity, as widely acknowledged. Moreover, SBT is identified with the EMS theory. As illustrations of this identification we show that several known solutions of SBT are also solutions of the EMS system and vice versa. Cosmological arguments are also considered. In particular, a dynamical systems-based demonstration of the dynamical equivalence between these theories is given. The study of the asymptotic dynamics of the Sáez–Ballester-based cosmological model shows that there are no equilibrium points which could be associated with accelerated expansion, unless one includes a cosmological constant term or a self-interacting scalar field. This is a well-known result for cosmological models which are based on the Einstein-self-interacting-scalar theory, also known as quintessence.