Diffeomorphism Invariant Theories Research Articles

Local phase space and edge modes for diffeomorphism-invariant theories

We discuss an approach to characterizing local degrees of freedom of a subregion in diffeomorphism-invariant theories using the extended phase space of Donnelly and Freidel [36]. Such a characterization is important for defining local observables and entanglement entropy in gravitational theories. Traditional phase space constructions for subregions are not invariant with respect to diffeomorphisms that act at the boundary. The extended phase space remedies this problem by introducing edge mode fields at the boundary whose transformations under diffeomorphisms render the extended symplectic structure fully gauge invariant. In this work, we present a general construction for the edge mode symplectic structure. We show that the new fields satisfy a surface symmetry algebra generated by the Noether charges associated with the edge mode fields. For surface-preserving symmetries, the algebra is universal for all diffeomorphism-invariant theories, comprised of diffeomorphisms of the boundary, SL(2, ℝ) transformations of the normal plane, and, in some cases, normal shearing transformations. We also show that if boundary conditions are chosen such that surface translations are symmetries, the algebra acquires a central extension.

A 4D gravity theory and $G_2$-holonomy manifolds

Bryant and Salamon gave a construction of metrics of G2 holonomy on the total space of the bundle of anti-self-dual (ASD) 2-forms over a 4-dimensional self-dual Einstein manifold. We generalise it by considering the total space of an SO(3) bundle (with fibers R^3) over a 4-dimensional base, with a connection on this bundle. We make essentially the same ansatz for the calibrating 3-form, but use the curvature 2-forms instead of the ASD ones. We show that the resulting 3-form defines a metric of G2 holonomy if the connection satisfies a certain second-order PDE. This is exactly the same PDE that arises as the field equation of a certain 4-dimensional gravity theory formulated as a diffeomorphism-invariant theory of SO(3) connections. Thus, every solution of this 4-dimensional gravity theory can be lifted to a G2-holonomy metric. Unlike all previously known constructions, the theory that we lift to 7 dimensions is not topological. Thus, our construction should give rise to many new metrics of G2 holonomy. We describe several examples that are of cohomogeneity one on the base.

Topological field theories of 2- and 3-forms in six dimensions

We consider several diffeomorphism invariant field theories of 2- and 3-forms in six dimensions. They all share the same kinetic term BdC but differ in the potential term that is added. The theory BdC with no potential term is topological—it describes no propagating degrees of freedom. We show that the theory continues to remain topological when either the BBB or CĈ potential term is added. The latter theory can be viewed as a background independent version of the 6-dimensional Hitchin theory, for its critical points are complex or para-complex 6-manifolds, but unlike in Hitchin’s construction, one does not need to choose a background cohomology class to define the theory. We also show that the dimensional reduction of the CĈ theory to three dimensions, when reducing on S3, gives 3D gravity.

On the question of symmetries in nonrelativistic diffeomorphism-invariant theories

A novel algorithm is provided to couple a Galilean-invariant model with curved spatial background by taking nonrelativistic limit of a unique minimally coupled relativistic theory, which ensures Galilean symmetry in the flat limit and canonical transformation of the original fields. That the twin requirements are fulfilled is ensured by a new field, the existence of which was demonstrated recently from Galilean gauge theory. The ambiguities and anomalies concerning the recovery of Galilean symmetry in the flat limit of spatial nonrelativistic diffeomorphic theories, reported in the literature, are focused and resolved from a new angle.

Conserved charge of a gravity theory with p -form gauge fields and its property under Kaluza-Klein reduction

In this paper, we investigate the conserved charges of generally diffeomorphism invariant gravity theories with a wide variety of matter fields, particularly of the theories with multiple scalar fields and $p$-form potentials, in the context of the off-shell generalized Abbott-Deser-Tekin (ADT) formalism. We first construct a new off-shell ADT current that consists of the terms for the variation of a Killing vector and expressions of the field equations as well as the Lie derivative of a surface term with respect to the Killing vector within the framework of generally diffeomorphism invariant gravity theories involving various matter fields. After deriving the off-shell ADT potential corresponding to this current, we propose a formula of conserved charges for these theories. Next, we derive the off-shell ADT potential associated with the generic Lagrangian that describes a large range of gravity theories with a number of scalar fields and $p$-form potentials. Finally, the properties of the off-shell generalized ADT charges for the theory of Einstein gravity and the gravity theories with a single $p$-form potential are investigated by performing Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction along a compactified direction. The results indicate that the charge contributed by all the fields in the lower-dimensional theory is equal to that of the higher-dimensional one at mathematical level with the hypothesis that the higher-dimensional spacetime allows for the existence of the compactified dimension. In order to illustrate our calculations, the mass and angular momentum for the five-dimensional rotating Kaluza-Klein black holes are explicitly evaluated as an example.

Self-dual gravity

Self-dual gravity is a diffeomorphism invariant theory in four dimensions that describes two propagating polarisations of the graviton and has a negative mass dimension coupling constant. Nevertheless, this theory is not only renormalisable but quantum finite, as we explain. We also collect various facts about self-dual gravity that are scattered across the literature.

Higher derivative gravity: Field equation as the equation of state

One of the striking features of general relativity is that the Einstein equation is implied by the Clausius relation imposed on a small patch of locally constructed causal horizon. Extension of this thermodynamic derivation of the field equation to more general theories of gravity has been attempted many times in the last two decades. In particular, equations of motion for minimally coupled higher curvature theories of gravity, but without the derivatives of curvature, have previously been derived using a thermodynamic reasoning. In that derivation the horizon slices were endowed with an entropy density whose form resembles that of the Noether charge for diffeomorphisms, and was dubbed the Noetheresque entropy. In this paper, we propose a new entropy density, closely related to the Noetheresque form, such that the field equation of any diffeomorphism invariant metric theory of gravity can be derived by imposing the Clausius relation on a small patch of local causal horizon.

Generalized Einstein’s Equations from Wald Entropy

We derive the gravitational equations of motion of general theories of gravity from thermodynamics applied to a local Rindler horizon through any point in spacetime. Specifically, for a given theory of gravity, we substitute the corresponding Wald entropy into the Clausius relation. Our approach works for all diffeomorphism-invariant theories of gravity in which the Lagrangian is a polynomial in the Riemann tensor.

How unimodular gravity theories differ from general relativity at quantum level

We investigate path integral quantization of two versions of unimodular gravity. First a fully diffeomorphism-invariant theory is analyzed, which does not include a unimodular condition on the metric, while still being equivalent to other unimodular gravity theories at the classical level. The path integral has the same form as in general relativity (GR), except that the cosmological constant is an unspecified value of a variable, and it thus is unrelated to any coupling constant. When the state of the universe is a superposition of vacuum states, the path integral is extended to include an integral over the cosmological constant. Second, we analyze the standard unimodular theory of gravity, where the metric determinant is fixed by a constraint. Its path integral differs from the one of GR in two ways: the metric of spacetime satisfies the unimodular condition only in average over space, and both the Hamiltonian constraint and the associated gauge condition have zero average over space. Finally, the canonical relation between the given unimodular theories of gravity is established.

F(R)-modified gravity, Wald entropy, and the generalized uncertainty principle

Wald's entropy formula allows one to find the entropy of black holes' event horizon within any diffeomorphism invariant theory of gravity. When applied to general relativity, the formula yields the Bekenstein-Hawking result but, for any other gravitational action that departs from the Hilbert action, the resulting entropy acquires an additional multiplicative factor that depends on the global geometry of the background spacetime. On the other hand, the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) has extensively been recently used to investigate corrections to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy formula, with the conclusion that the latter always comes multiplied by a factor that depends on the area of the event horizon. We show, by considering the case of an $f(R)$-modified gravity, that the usual black hole entropy derivation based on the GUP might be modified in such a way that the two methods yield the same corrections to Bekenstein-Hawking formula. The procedure turns out to be an interesting method for seeking modified gravity theories. Two different versions of the GUP are used and it is found that only one of them yields a viable modified gravity model. Conversely, it is possible to find a general formulation of the GUP that would reproduce Wald entropy formula for any $f(R)$-theory of gravity.

Closure constraints for hyperbolic tetrahedra

We investigate the generalization of loop gravity's twisted geometries to a q-deformed gauge group. In the standard undeformed case, loop gravity is a formulation of general relativity as a diffeomorphism-invariant gauge theory. Its classical states are graphs provided with algebraic data. In particular, closure constraints at every node of the graph ensure their interpretation as twisted geometries. Dual to each node, one has a polyhedron embedded in flat space . One then glues them, allowing for both curvature and torsion. It was recently conjectured that q-deforming the gauge group would allow us to account for a non-vanishing cosmological constant , and in particular that deforming the loop gravity phase space with real parameter would lead to a generalization of twisted geometries to a hyperbolic curvature. Following this insight, we look for generalization of the closure constraints to the hyperbolic case. In particular, we introduce two new closure constraints for hyperbolic tetrahedra. One is compact and expressed in terms of normal rotations (group elements in associated to the triangles) and the second is non-compact and expressed in terms of triangular matrices (group elements in ). We show that these closure constraints both define a unique dual tetrahedron (up to global translations on the three-dimensional one-sheet hyperboloid) and are thus ultimately equivalent.

Diffeomorphism-invariant lattice actions

We present a lattice-discretization procedure which is based on the simplicial lattice preserves diffeomorphism invariance. The presented procedure is the straightforward generalization for the procedure used for discretization of the spinor gravity [7]. As a stable way to guarantee the removing of the lattice regularization, i.e. the continuum limit, for lattice diffeomorphism invariant theories, we propose to tune the system to point of the phase transition. We expect that the Einstein gravitation is achieved at this point.

Field Equations and Radial Solutions in a Noncommutative Spherically Symmetric Geometry

We study a noncommutative theory of gravity in the framework of torsional spacetime. This theory is based on a Lagrangian obtained by applying the technique of dimensional reduction of noncommutative gauge theory and that the yielded diffeomorphism invariant field theory can be made equivalent to a teleparallel formulation of gravity. Field equations are derived in the framework of teleparallel gravity through Weitzenbock geometry. We solve these field equations by considering a mass that is distributed spherically symmetrically in a stationary static spacetime in order to obtain a noncommutative line element. This new line element interestingly reaffirms the coherent state theory for a noncommutative Schwarzschild black hole. For the first time, we derive the Newtonian gravitational force equation in the commutative relativity framework, and this result could provide the possibility to investigate examples in various topics in quantum and ordinary theories of gravity.

Constraint algebra in loop quantum gravity reloaded. I. Toy model of aU(1)3gauge theory

We analyze the issue of anomaly-free representations of the constraint algebra in Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) in the context of a diffeomorphism-invariant gauge theory in three spacetime dimensions. We construct a Hamiltonian constraint operator whose commutator matches with a quantization of the classical Poisson bracket involving structure functions. Our quantization scheme is based on a geometric interpretation of the Hamiltonian constraint as a generator of phase space-dependent diffeomorphisms. The resulting Hamiltonian constraint at finite triangulation has a conceptual similarity with the "mu-bar"-scheme in loop quantum cosmology and highly intricate action on the spin-network states of the theory. We construct a subspace of non-normalizable states (distributions) on which the continuum Hamiltonian constraint is defined which leads to an anomaly-free representation of the Poisson bracket of two Hamiltonian constraints in loop quantized framework.

GRAVIWEAK UNIFICATION, INVISIBLE UNIVERSE AND DARK ENERGY

We consider a graviweak unification model with the assumption of the existence of a hidden (invisible) sector of our Universe, parallel to the visible world. This Hidden World (HW) is assumed to be a Mirror World (MW) with broken mirror parity. We start with a diffeomorphism invariant theory of a gauge field valued in a Lie algebra [Formula: see text], which is broken spontaneously to the direct sum of the space–time Lorentz algebra and the Yang–Mills algebra: [Formula: see text] — in the ordinary world, and [Formula: see text] — in the hidden world. Using an extension of the Plebanski action for general relativity, we recover the actions for gravity, SU(2) Yang–Mills and Higgs fields in both (visible and invisible) sectors of the Universe, and also the total action. After symmetry breaking, all physical constants, including the Newton's constants, cosmological constants, Yang–Mills couplings, and other parameters, are determined by a single parameter g present in the initial action, and by the Higgs VEVs. The dark energy problem of this model predicts a too large supersymmetric breaking scale (M SUSY ~1010 GeV ), which is not within the reach of the LHC experiments.

Thermodynamics of local causal horizons

We propose an expression for the entropy density associated with the Local Causal Horizons in any diffeomorphism invariant theory of gravity. If the black-hole entropy of the theory satisfies the physical process version of the first law of thermodynamics then our proposed entropy satisfies the Clausius relation. Thus, our study shows that the thermodynamic nature of the spacetime horizons is not restricted to the black holes; it also applies to the local causal horizons in the neighborhood of any point in the spacetime.

GRAVITY AND MIRROR GRAVITY IN PLEBANSKI FORMULATION

We present several theories of four-dimensional gravity in the Plebanski formulation, in which the tetrads and the connections are the independent dynamical variables. We consider the relation between different versions of gravitational theories: Einsteinian, "topological," "mirror" gravities and gravity with torsion. We assume that our world, in which we live, is described by the self-dual left-handed gravity, and propose that if the Mirror World exists in Nature, then the "mirror gravity" is the right-handed antiself-dual gravity. In this connection, we give a brief review of gravi-weak unification models. In accordance with cosmological measurements, we consider the Universe with broken mirror parity. We also discuss the problems of cosmological constant and communication between visible and mirror worlds. Investigating a special version of the Riemann–Cartan space–time, which has torsion as an additional geometric property, we have shown that in the Plebanski formulation the ordinary and dual "topological" sectors of gravity, as well as the gravity with torsion, are equivalent. Equations of motion are obtained. In this context, we have also discussed a "pure connection gravity" — a diffeomorphism-invariant gauge theory of gravity. Loop Quantum Gravity is also briefly reviewed.

Nonlinear massive gravity with additional primary constraint and absence of ghosts

We complete the Hamiltonian analysis of specific model of non-linear massive gravity that was started in arXiv:1112.5267. We identify the primary constraint and corresponding secondary constraint. We show that they are the second class constraints and hence they lead to the elimination of the additional scalar mode. We also find that the remaining constraints are the first class constraints with the structure that corresponds to the manifestly diffeomorphism invariant theory. Finally we determine the number of physical degrees of freedom and we show that it corresponds to the number of physical modes of massive gravity.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and gravity

Gravity is usually considered to be irrelevant as far as the physics of elementary particles is concerned and, in particular, in the context of the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) mechanism. We describe a version of the SSB mechanism in which gravity plays a direct role. We work in the context of diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories, which exist for any non-abelian gauge group G, and which have second order in derivatives field equations. We show that any (non-trivial) vacuum solution of such a theory gives rise to an embedding of the group SU(2) into G, and thus breaks G down to SU(2) times its centralizer in G. The components of the connection charged under SU(2) can then be seen to describe gravitons, with the SU(2) itself playing the role of the chiral half of the Lorentz group. Components charged under the centralizer describe the usual Yang-Mills gauge bosons. The remaining components describe massive particles. This breaking of symmetry explains (in the context of models considered) how gravity and Yang-Mills can come from a single underlying theory while being so different in the physics they describe. Further, varying the vacuum solution, and thus the embedding of SU(2) into G, one can break the Yang-Mills gauge group as desired, with massless gauge bosons of one vacuum acquiring mass in another. There is no Higgs field in our version of the SSB mechanism, the only variable is a connection field. Instead of the symmetry breaking by a dedicated Higgs field pointing in some direction in the field space, our theories break the symmetry by choosing how the group of "internal" gauge rotations of gravity (the chiral half of the Lorentz group) sits inside the full gauge group.

A gauge-theoretic approach to gravity

Einstein's general relativity (GR) is a dynamical theory of the space–time metric. We describe an approach in which GR becomes an SU(2) gauge theory. We start at the linearized level and show how a gauge-theoretic Lagrangian for non-interacting massless spin two particles (gravitons) takes a much more simple and compact form than in the standard metric description. Moreover, in contrast to the GR situation, the gauge theory Lagrangian is convex. We then proceed with a formulation of the full nonlinear theory. The equivalence to the metric-based GR holds only at the level of solutions of the field equations, that is, on-shell. The gauge-theoretic approach also makes it clear that GR is not the only interacting theory of massless spin two particles, in spite of the GR uniqueness theorems available in the metric description. Thus, there is an infinite-parameter class of gravity theories all describing just two propagating polarizations of the graviton. We describe how matter can be coupled to gravity in this formulation and, in particular, how both the gravity and Yang–Mills arise as sectors of a general diffeomorphism-invariant gauge theory. We finish by outlining a possible scenario of the ultraviolet completion of quantum gravity within this approach.