Noether Currents Research Articles

BRST covariant phase space and holographic Ward identities

This paper develops an enlarged BRST framework to treat the large gauge transformations of a given quantum field theory. It determines the associated infinitely many Noether charges stemming from a gauge fixed and BRST invariant Lagrangian, a result that cannot be obtained from Noether’s second theorem. The geometrical significance of this result is highlighted by the construction of a trigraded BRST covariant phase space, allowing a BRST invariant gauge fixing procedure. This provides an appropriate framework for determining the conserved BRST Noether current of the global BRST symmetry and the associated global Noether charges. The latter are found to be equivalent with the usual classical corner charges of large gauge transformations. It allows one to prove the gauge independence of their physical effects at the perturbative quantum level. In particular, the underlying BRST fundamental canonical relation provides the same graded symplectic brackets as in the classical covariant phase space. A unified Lagrangian Ward identity for small and large gauge transformations is built. It consistently decouples into a bulk part for small gauge transformations, which is the standard BRST-BV quantum master equation, and a boundary part for large gauge transformations. The boundary part provides a perturbation theory origin for the invariance of the Hamiltonian physical -matrix under asymptotic symmetries. Holographic anomalies for the boundary Ward identity are studied and found to be solutions of a codimension one Wess-Zumino consistency condition. Such solutions are studied in the context of extended BMS symmetry. Their existence clarifies the status of the 1-loop correction to the subleading soft graviton theorem.

Anomalous higher order Ward identities in tensorial group field theories without closure constraint

Abstract The Ward-Takahashi identities are considered as the generalization of the Noether currents available to quantum field theory and include quantum fluctuation effects. Usually, they take the form of relations between correlation functions, which ultimately correspond to the relation between coupling constants of the theory. For this reason, they play a central role in the construction of renormalized theory, providing strong relations between counter-terms. Since last years, they have been intensively considered in the construction of approximate solutions for nonperturbative renormalization group of tensorial group field theories. The construction of these identities is based on the formal invariance of the partition function under a unitary transformation, and Ward’s identities result from a first-order expansion around the identity. Due to the group structure of the transformation under consideration, it is expected that a first-order expansion is indeed sufficient. We show in this article that this does not seem to be the case for a complex tensor theory model, with a kinetic term involving a Laplacian.

A note on field equations in generalized theories of gravity

In the work [Phys. Rev. D 84, 124 041 (2011)], to obtain a simple and economic formulation of field equations for generalised theories of gravity described by the Lagrangian −gLgαβ,Rμνρσ , the key equality ∂L/∂gμνRαβκω=2PμλρσRνλρσ was derived. In this note, it is demonstrated that such an equality can be directly derived from an off-shell Noether current associated with an arbitrary vector field. As byproducts, a generalized Bianchi identity related to the divergence for the expression of field equations, together with the Noether potential, is obtained. On the basis of the above, we further propose a systematic procedure to derive the equations of motion from the Noether current, and then this procedure is extended to more general higher-order gravities endowed with the Lagrangian encompassing additional terms of the covariant derivatives of the Riemann tensor. To our knowledge, both the detailed expressions for field equations and the Noether potential associated with such theories are first given at a general level. All the results reveal that using the Noether current to determine field equations establishes a straightforward connection between the symmetry of the Lagrangian and the equations of motion and such a remedy even can avoid calculating the derivative of the Lagrangian density with respect to the metric.

Centerless BMS charge algebra

We show that when the Wald-Zoupas prescription is implemented, the resulting charges realize the Bondi-Van der Burg–Metzner-Sachs (BMS) symmetry algebra without any 2-cocycle nor central extension, at any cut of future null infinity. We refine the covariance prescription for application to the charge aspects, and introduce a new aspect for Geroch’s supermomentum with better covariance properties. For the extended BMS symmetry with singular conformal Killing vectors we find that a Wald-Zoupas symplectic potential exists, if one is willing to modify the symplectic structure by a corner term. The resulting algebra of Noether currents between two arbitrary cuts is centerless. The charge algebra at a given cut has a residual field-dependent 2-cocycle, but time-independent and nonradiative. More precisely, superrotation fluxes act covariantly, but superrotation charges act covariantly only on global translations. The take home message is that in any situation where 2-cocycles appears in the literature, covariance has likely been lost in the charge prescription, and that the criterium of covariance is a powerful one to reduce ambiguities in the charges, and can be used also for ambiguities in the charge aspects. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Exact solutions of an anisotropic universe in a modified teleparallel gravity model via the Noether and B.N.S. approaches

In this paper, we present the Noether symmetries of locally rotationally symmetric Bianchi-type I (LRS BI), an anisotropic model, in the context of the teleparallel gravity. We study a certain modified teleparallel theory based on the action that, in particular, contains a coupling between the scalar field and field strength (magnetism part). We derive the symmetry generators and show that, by means of cyclic variables approach, one can not obtain a suitable solution for field equations. Hence by the use of beyond Noether symmetry (B.N.S.) approach, we solve the equations which carry Noether currents as well. By data analysis of the obtained results, compatible results with observational data at the last half of the age of universe which is accelerating are demonstrated.

On currents in the $O(n)$ loop model

Using methods from the conformal bootstrap, we study the properties of Noether currents in the critical O(n)O(n) loop model. We confirm that they do not give rise to a Kac-Moody algebra (for n≠ 2n≠2), a result expected from the underlying lack of unitarity. By studying four-point functions in detail, we fully determine the current-current OPEs, and thus obtain several structure constants with physical meaning. We find in particular that the terms :\!J\bar{J}\!::JJ‾: in the identity and adjoint channels vanish exactly, invalidating the argument made in [Nucl. Phys. B 419, 411 (1994)] that adding orientation-dependent interactions to the model should lead to continuously varying exponents in self-avoiding walks. We also determine the residue of the identity channel in the JJJJ two-point function, finding that it coincides both with the result of a transfer-matrix computation for an orientation-dependent correlation function in the lattice model, and with an earlier Coulomb gas computation of Cardy [Nucl. Phys. B 265, 409 (1986)]. This is, to our knowledge, one of the first instances where the Coulomb gas formalism and the bootstrap can be successfully compared.

The equivalence principle for a plane gravitational wave in torsion-based and non-metricity-based teleparallel equivalents of general relativity

We study the energy–momentum characteristics of the plane “+”-polarized gravitational wave solution of general relativity in the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity (TEGR) and the symmetric teleparallel equivalent of general relativity (STEGR) using the previously constructed Noether currents. The current components describe energy–momentum locally measured by an observer if the displacement vector ξ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\xi $$\\end{document} is equal to the observer’s 4-velocity. To determine the non-dynamical connection in these theories, we use the unified “turning off” gravity principle. For a constructive analysis of the values of Noether currents and superpotentials in TEGR and STEGR, we use the concept of “gauges”. The gauge changing can affect the Noether current values. We study under what conditions the Noether current for the freely falling observer is zero. When they are established, the zero result can be interpreted as a correspondence to the equivalence principle, and it is a novelty for gravitational waves in the TEGR and STEGR. We highlight two important cases with positive and zero energy, which reproduce the results of previous works with a different approach for determining gravitational energy–momentum in the TEGR, and give their interpretation.

The general set of Noetherian energy-momentum tensors in linearized gravity: mathematical framework

Energy-momentum tensors are foundational objects which are uniquely defined in standard physical field theories such as electrodynamics and Yang-mills theory. In general relativity, and in particular linearized gravity where symmetries required for an energy-momentum tensor derived from Noether’s first theorem are well defined, there exists a long standing non-uniqueness problem; numerous distinct energy-momentum expressions exist in the literature, and there is not consensus which, if any, is the unique expressions for the theory. Recently, the viability of the superpotential ‘improvement’ method was shown to be insufficient for addressing the non-uniqueness problem of energy-momentum tensors in linearized gravity. In the present article, the mathematical framework for the general set of Noetherian energy-momentum tensors in linearized gravity is derived using Noether’s first theorem, which consists of all possible energy-momentum tensors from the Noether current which yield the linearized Einstein field equations in the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equation of the Noether identity without introducing any ‘improvement’ terms. This result has several advantages in addition to not requiring ‘improvements’, such as the ability to impact the Lagrangian proportional piece of the energy-momentum tensor. Numerous common published gravitational energy-momentum expressions are then compared to these general results to assess which can be classified as Noetherian, and which cannot. Standard physical criteria such as symmetry and tracelessness are then used to prove that it is possible to directly obtain an energy-momentum tensor which is simultaneously symmetric and traceless from the Noether current; such an expression is derived from the general results. Consequences of these results and their relation to the aforementioned non-uniqueness problem are discussed.

Local scale symmetry in non-riemannian geometry based gravitational theories and the role of the noether current

Local scale symmetry in non-riemannian geometry based gravitational theories and the role of the noether current

Gravity from holomorphic discs and celestial Lw1+∞\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Lw_{1+\\infty }$$\\end{document} symmetries

The study of physical theories in various signatures has been important for uncovering structures not easily visible or definable in Lorentz signature. In split signature, global twistor constructions for conformally self-dual (SD) gravity and Yang–Mills construct solutions from twistor data that can be expressed in terms of free data without gauge freedom. This is developed for asymptotically flat SD gravity to give a fully nonlinear encoding of the asymptotic gravitational data in terms of a real homogeneous generating function h on the real twistor space. The recently discovered Lw1+∞\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Lw_{1+\\infty }$$\\end{document} celestial symmetries, when real, act locally as passive Poisson diffeomorphisms on the real twistor space. The twistor data, h, generates an imaginary such Poisson transformation that then generates the gravitational field by shifting the real slice of the twistor space. The twistor chiral sigma models, whose correlators yield the Einstein gravity tree-level S-matrix, are reformulated as theories of holomorphic discs in twistor space whose boundaries lie on the deformed real slice determined by h. The real Lw1+∞\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Lw_{1+\\infty }$$\\end{document} symmetries act on the corresponding formula for the S-matrix geometrically with vanishing Noether currents, but imaginary generators yield graviton vertex operators that generate gravitons in the perturbative expansion. A generating function for the all plus 1-loop amplitude, the analogous framework for Yang–Mills, possible interpretations in Lorentz signature and similar open string formulations of twistor and ambitwistor strings in 4d in split signature, are briefly discussed.

Action principle of Galilean relativistic Proca theory

In this paper, we discuss Galilean relativistic Proca theory in detail. We first provide a set of mapping relations, derived systematically, that connect the covariant and contravariant vectors in the Lorentz relativistic and Galilean relativistic formulations. Exploiting this map, we construct the two limits of Galilean relativistic Proca theory from usual Proca theory in the potential formalism for both contravariant and covariant vectors which are now distinct entities. An action formalism is thereby derived from which the field equations are obtained and their internal consistency is shown. Next we construct Noether currents and show their on-shell conservation. We introduce analogues of Maxwell’s electric and magnetic fields and recast the entire analysis in terms of these fields. Explicit invariance under Galilean transformations is shown for both electric/magnetic limits. We then move to discuss Stuckelberg embedded Proca model in the Galilean framework.

Generalization of Noether Theorem and action principle for non-Lagrangian theories

A non-Lagrangian field theory is a theory whose field equations cannot be derived from the action principle. The action principle is described by holonomic variational equations. These equations can be used only for standard field theories, equations of which can be represented as Euler–Lagrange equations for some Lagrangian density. In the general case, one should use non-holonomic variational equations to obtain a wider class of field equations. In this paper, it is proposed to use the Sedov non-holonomic variational equation as a generalization of action principle. Examples of application of non-holonomic variational equations to derive various field equations are suggested. The standard Noether theorem is formulated for the standard (Lagrangian) field theory with an action functional and expresses the invariance of the Lagrangian with respect to some continuous group of transformations. In this paper, a generalization of Noether’s theorem for non-Lagrangian field theories is proposed and proved by using the non-holonomic variational equation. The expression of Noether current is described in the general case of non-Lagrangian field theory. The energy–momentum tensor, orbital angular-momentum tensor and spin angular-momentum tensor are given for non-Lagrangian field theories. Examples of application of generalized first Noether’s theorem are suggested for scalar end vector fields of non-Lagrangian field theory. An important result of this paper is the proof of possibility of existence of some analogues of dissipative structures in non-Lagrangian field theories and some properties of such structures are suggested.

Noether Currents and Generators of Local Gauge Transformations in the Covariant Canonical Formalism

Noether Currents and Generators of Local Gauge Transformations in the Covariant Canonical Formalism

Mimetic tensor–vector–scalar cosmology: Incorporating dark matter, dark energy and stiff matter

Phenomenological implications of the Mimetic Tensor–Vector–Scalar theory (MiTeVeS) are studied. The theory is an extension of the vector field model of mimetic dark matter, where a scalar field is also incorporated, and it is known to be free from ghost instability. In the absence of interactions between the scalar field and the vector field, the obtained cosmological solution corresponds to the General theory of Relativity (GR) with a minimally-coupled scalar field. However, including an interaction term between the scalar field and the vector field yields interesting dynamics. There is a shift symmetry for the scalar field with a flat potential, and the conserved Noether current, which is associated with the symmetry, behaves as a dark matter component. Consequently, the solution contains a cosmological constant, dark matter and a stiff matter fluid. Breaking the shift symmetry with a non-flat potential gives a natural interaction between dark energy and dark matter.

New formulation of Galilean relativistic Maxwell theory

In this paper, we discuss Galilean relativistic Maxwell theory in detail. We first provide a set of mapping relations, derived systematically, that connect the covariant and contravariant vectors in the Lorentz relativistic and Galilean relativistic formulations. Exploiting this map, we construct the two limits of Galilean relativistic Maxwell theory from usual Maxwell's theory in the potential formalism for both contravariant and covariant vectors which are now distinct entities. Field equations are derived and their internal consistency is shown. The entire analysis is then performed in terms of electric and magnetic fields for both covariant and contravariant components. Duality transformations and their connection with boost symmetry are discussed which reveal a rich structure. The notion of twisted duality is introduced. Next we consider gauge symmetry, construct Noether currents and show their on-shell conservation. We also discuss shift symmetry under which the Lagrangian is invariant, where the corresponding currents are now on-shell conserved. At the end we analyse the theory by including sources for both contravariant and covariant sectors. We show that sources are now off-shell conserved

The energy–momentum complex in non-local gravity

In General Relativity, the issue of defining the gravitational energy contained in a given spatial region is still unresolved, except for particular cases of localized objects where the asymptotic flatness holds for a given spacetime. In principle, a theory of gravity is not self-consistent, if the whole energy content is not uniquely defined in a specific volume. Here, we generalize the Einstein gravitational energy–momentum pseudotensor to non-local theories of gravity where analytic functions of the non-local integral operator [Formula: see text] are taken into account. We apply the Noether theorem to a gravitational Lagrangian, supposed invariant under the one-parameter group of diffeomorphisms, that is, the infinitesimal rigid translations. The invariance of non-local gravitational action under global translations leads to a locally conserved Noether current, and thus, to the definition of a gravitational energy–momentum pseudotensor, which is an affine object transforming like a tensor under affine transformations. Furthermore, the energy–momentum complex remains locally conserved, thanks to the non-local contracted Bianchi identities. The continuity equations for the gravitational pseudotensor and the energy–momentum complex, taking into account both gravitational and matter components, can be derived. Finally, the weak field limit of pseudotensor is performed to lowest order in metric perturbation in view of astrophysical applications.

Local continuity of angular momentum and noether charge for matter in general relativity

Conservation laws have many applications in numerical relativity. However, it is not straightforward to define local conservation laws for general dynamic spacetimes due the lack of coordinate translation symmetries. In flat space, the rate of change of energy-momentum within a finite spacelike volume is equivalent to the flux integrated over the surface of this volume; for general spacetimes it is necessary to include a volume integral of a source term arising from spacetime curvature. In this work a study of continuity of matter in general relativity is extended to include angular momentum of matter and Noether currents associated with gauge symmetries. Expressions for the Noether charge and flux of complex scalar fields and complex Proca fields are found using this formalism. Expressions for the angular momentum density, flux and source are also derived which are then applied to a numerical relativity collision of boson stars in 3D with non-zero impact parameter as an illustration of the methods.

Energy and entropy in the geometrical trinity of gravity

All energy is gravitational energy. That is the consequence of the equivalence principle, according to which gravity is the universal interaction. The physical charges of this interaction have remained undisclosed, but the advent of the geometrical trinity opened a new approach to this foundational problem. Here it is shown to provide a background-independent unification of the previous, noncovariant approaches of Bergmann-Thomson, Cooperstock, Einstein, von Freud, Landau-Lifshitz, Papapetrou, and Weinberg. First, the Noether currents are derived for a generic Palatini theory of gravity coupled with generic matter fields, and then the canonical, i.e., the unique charges, are robustly derived and analyzed, particularly in the metric teleparallel and the symmetric teleparallel versions of general Relativity. These results, and their application to black holes and gravitational waves, are new.

Noether charge formalism for Weyl transverse gravity

Weyl transverse gravity (WTG) is a gravitational theory that is invariant under transverse diffeomorphisms and Weyl transformations. It is characterised by having the same classical solutions as general relativity while solving some of its issues with the cosmological constant. In this work, we first find the Noether currents and charges corresponding to local symmetries of WTG as well as a prescription for the symplectic form. We then employ these results to derive the first law of black hole mechanics in WTG (both in vacuum and in the presence of a perfect fluid), identifying the total energy, the total angular momentum, and the Wald entropy of black holes. We further obtain the first law and Smarr formula for Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter and pure de Sitter spacetimes, discussing the contributions of the varying cosmological constant, which naturally appear in WTG. Lastly, we derive the first law of causal diamonds in vacuum.

Vanishing Noether current in Weyl invariant gravities

We revisit the issue that the Noether current associated with a local scale symmetry, or equivalently the Weyl symmetry, identically vanishes. Based on only the second Noether theorem for a local symmetry, we prove that the Noether current associated with the Weyl symmetry is in general vanishing in any Weyl invariant gravitational theories in four-dimensional Riemannian geometry. We also clarify the reason: The Weyl transformation is nondynamical in the sense that it does not contain the derivative term of the transformation parameter as opposed to the conventional gauge transformation.