THE EFFECTIVE ENERGY-MOMENTUM TENSOR IN KALUZA–KLEIN GRAVITY WITH LARGE EXTRA DIMENSIONS AND OFF-DIAGONAL METRICS

Abstract

We consider a version of Kaluza–Klein theory where the cylinder condition is not imposed. The metric is allowed to have explicit dependence on the "extra" coordinate(s). This is the usual scenario in brane-world and space-time-matter theories. We extend the usual discussion by considering five-dimensional metrics with off-diagonal terms. We replace the condition of cylindricity by the requirement that physics in four-dimensional space-time should remain invariant under changes of coordinates in the five-dimensional bulk. This invariance does not eliminate physical effects from the extra dimension but separates them from spurious geometrical ones. We use the appropriate splitting technique to construct the most general induced energy-momentum tensor, compatible with the required invariance. It generalizes all previous results in the literature. In addition, we find two four-vectors, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], induced by off-diagonal metrics, that separately satisfy the usual equation of continuity in 4D. These vectors appear as source-terms in equations that closely resemble the ones of electromagnetism. These are Maxwell-like equations for an antisymmetric tensor [Formula: see text] that generalizes the usual electromagnetic one. This generalization is not an assumption, but follows naturally from the dimensional reduction. Thus, if[Formula: see text] could be identified with the electromagnetic tensor, then the theory would predict the existence of classical magnetic charge and current. The splitting formalism used allows us to construct 4D physical quantities from five-dimensional ones, in a way that is independent from how we choose our space-time coordinates from those of the bulk.