Weyl Invariance Research Articles

Pure R2 gravity can gravitate about a flat background

Pure R2 gravity (R2 gravity by itself with no Einstein-Hilbert term) has attracted attention because it is different from other quadratic gravity theories. In a curved de Sitter (dS) or anti-de Sitter (AdS) background, it is equivalent to Einstein gravity with an additional massless scalar and with a cosmological constant. In contrast to other higher-derivative theories, it is therefore unitary. The equivalence with Einstein gravity is not valid for a flat background. In fact, it has been shown that linearizations of pure R2 gravity about flat spacetime does not produce a graviton. In other words, it does not gravitate about flat space. Pure R2 gravity is invariant under restricted Weyl transformations where the metric is scaled by a conformal factor that obeys a harmonic condition. In this work we consider an action composed of pure R2 gravity, a massless scalar field φ non-minimally coupled to gravity plus other terms. The entire action is invariant under restricted Weyl transformations. We show that when the scalar field φ acquires a non-zero vacuum expectation value (VEV), flat spacetime now becomes a viable gravitating background solution. The restricted Weyl symmetry becomes broken, not explicitly but spontaneously. In other words, when φ acquires a non-zero VEV, the equivalent Einstein action has now the possibility of having a zero cosmological constant and therefore solutions in a Minkowski background. The action can also have, as before, a non-zero cosmological constant, so that solutions in a dS and AdS background are still possible.

On the conformal symmetry of exceptional scalar theories

The DBI and special galileon theories exhibit a conformal symmetry at unphysical values of the spacetime dimension. We find the Lagrangian form of this symmetry. The special conformal transformations are non-linearly realized on the fields, even though conformal symmetry is unbroken. Commuting the conformal transformations with the extended shift symmetries, we find new symmetries, which when taken together with the conformal and shift symmetries close into a larger algebra. For DBI this larger algebra is the conformal algebra of the higher dimensional bulk in the brane embedding view of DBI. For the special galileon it is a real form of the special linear algebra. We also find the Weyl transformations corresponding to the conformal symmetries, as well as the necessary improvement terms to make the theories Weyl invariant, to second order in the coupling in the DBI case and to lowest order in the coupling in the special galileon case.

Quadratic gravity and restricted Weyl symmetry

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between quadratic gravity and a restricted Weyl symmetry where a gauge parameter [Formula: see text] of Weyl transformation satisfies a constraint [Formula: see text] in a curved spacetime. First, we briefly review a model with a restricted gauge symmetry on the basis of QED, where a [Formula: see text] gauge parameter [Formula: see text] obeys a similar constraint [Formula: see text] in a flat Minkowski spacetime, and explain that the restricted gauge symmetry removes one on-shell mode of gauge field, which together with the Feynman gauge leaves only two transverse polarizations as physical states. Next, it is shown that the restricted Weyl symmetry also eliminates one component of a dipole field in quadratic gravity around a flat Minkowski background, leaving only a single scalar state. Finally, we show that the restricted Weyl symmetry cannot remove any dynamical degrees of freedom in static background metrics by using the zero-energy theorem of quadratic gravity. This fact also holds for the Euclidean background metrics without imposing the static condition.

Gauging scale symmetry and inflation: Weyl versus Palatini gravity

We present a comparative study of inflation in two theories of quadratic gravity with gauged scale symmetry: (1) the original Weyl quadratic gravity and (2) the theory defined by a similar action but in the Palatini approach obtained by replacing the Weyl connection by its Palatini counterpart. These theories have different vectorial non-metricity induced by the gauge field (w_mu ) of this symmetry. Both theories have a novel spontaneous breaking of gauged scale symmetry, in the absence of matter, where the necessary scalar field is not added ad-hoc to this purpose but is of geometric origin and part of the quadratic action. The Einstein-Proca action (of w_mu ), Planck scale and metricity emerge in the broken phase after w_mu acquires mass (Stueckelberg mechanism), then decouples. In the presence of matter (phi _1), non-minimally coupled, the scalar potential is similar in both theories up to couplings and field rescaling. For small field values the potential is Higgs-like while for large fields inflation is possible. Due to their R^2 term, both theories have a small tensor-to-scalar ratio (rsim 10^{-3}), larger in Palatini case. For a fixed spectral index n_s, reducing the non-minimal coupling (xi _1) increases r which in Weyl theory is bounded from above by that of Starobinsky inflation. For a small enough xi _1le 10^{-3}, unlike the Palatini version, Weyl theory gives a dependence r(n_s) similar to that in Starobinsky inflation, while also protecting r against higher dimensional operators corrections.

Accidental Gauge Symmetries of Minkowski Spacetime in Teleparallel Theories

In this paper, we provide a general framework for the construction of the Einstein frame within non-linear extensions of the teleparallel equivalents of General Relativity. These include the metric teleparallel and the symmetric teleparallel, but also the general teleparallel theories. We write the actions in a form where we separate the Einstein–Hilbert term, the conformal mode due to the non-linear nature of the theories (which is analogous to the extra degree of freedom in f(R) theories), and the sector that manifestly shows the dynamics arising from the breaking of local symmetries. This frame is then used to study the theories around the Minkowski background, and we show how all the non-linear extensions share the same quadratic action around Minkowski. As a matter of fact, we find that the gauge symmetries that are lost by going to the non-linear generalisations of the teleparallel General Relativity equivalents arise as accidental symmetries in the linear theory around Minkowski. Remarkably, we also find that the conformal mode can be absorbed into a Weyl rescaling of the metric at this order and, consequently, it disappears from the linear spectrum so only the usual massless spin 2 perturbation propagates. These findings unify in a common framework the known fact that no additional modes propagate on Minkowski backgrounds, and we can trace it back to the existence of accidental gauge symmetries of such a background.

Weyl consistency conditions from a local Wilsonian cutoff

A local UV cutoff Lambda (x) transforming under Weyl rescalings allows to construct Weyl invariant kinetic terms for scalar fields including Wilsonian cutoff functions. First we consider scalar fields in curved space-time with local bare couplings of any canonical dimension, and anomalous dimensions which describe their dependence on the UV cutoff. The local component of the UV cutoff plays the role of an additional coupling, albeit with a trivial constant beta function. This approach allows to derive Weyl consistency conditions for the corresponding anomalous dimensions which assume the form of an exact gradient flow. For renormalizable theories the Weyl consistency conditions are initially of the form of an approximate gradient flow for the beta functions, and we derive conditions under which it becomes the form of an exact gradient flow.

Gravitational waves from dark Yang-Mills sectors

Dark Yang-Mills sectors, which are ubiquitous in the string landscape, may be reheated above their critical temperature and subsequently go through a confining first-order phase transition that produces stochastic gravitational waves in the early universe. Taking into account constraints from lattice and from Yang-Mills (center and Weyl) symmetries, we use a phenomenological model to construct an effective potential of the semi quark-gluon plasma phase, from which we compute the gravitational wave signal produced during confinement for numerous gauge groups. The signal is maximized when the dark sector dominates the energy density of the universe at the time of the phase transition. In that case, we find that it is within reach of the next-to-next generation of experiments (BBO, DECIGO) for a range of dark confinement scales near the weak scale.

Charge algebra in Al(A)dSn spacetimes

The gravitational charge algebra of generic asymptotically locally (A)dS spacetimes is derived in n dimensions. The analysis is performed in the Starobinsky/Fefferman-Graham gauge, without assuming any further boundary condition than the minimal falloffs for conformal compactification. In particular, the boundary structure is allowed to fluctuate and plays the role of source yielding some symplectic flux at the boundary. Using the holographic renormalization procedure, the divergences are removed from the symplectic structure, which leads to finite expressions. The charges associated with boundary diffeomorphisms are generically non-vanishing, non-integrable and not conserved, while those associated with boundary Weyl rescalings are non-vanishing only in odd dimensions due to the presence of Weyl anomalies in the dual theory. The charge algebra exhibits a field-dependent 2-cocycle in odd dimensions. When the general framework is restricted to three-dimensional asymptotically AdS spacetimes with Dirichlet boundary conditions, the 2-cocycle reduces to the Brown-Henneaux central extension. The analysis is also specified to leaky boundary conditions in asymptotically locally (A)dS spacetimes that lead to the Λ-BMS asymptotic symmetry group. In the flat limit, the latter contracts into the BMS group in n dimensions.

Geometric properties of the Bertotti–Kasner space-time

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the Bertotti–Kasner space-time and its geometric properties.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the features of λ-tensor and the technique of six-dimensional formalism introduced by Pirani and followed by W. Borgiel, Z. Ahsan et al. and H.M. Manjunatha et al. This technique helps to describe both the geometric properties and the nature of the gravitational field of the space-times in the Segre characteristic.FindingsThe Gaussian curvature quantities specify the curvature of Bertotti–Kasner space-time. They are expressed in terms of invariants of the curvature tensor. The Petrov canonical form and the Weyl invariants have also been obtained.Originality/valueThe findings are revealed to be both physically and geometrically interesting for the description of the gravitational field of the cylindrical universe of Bertotti–Kasner type as far as the literature is concerned. Given the technique of six-dimensional formalism, the authors have defined the Weyl conformal λW-tensor and discussed the canonical form of the Weyl tensor and the Petrov scalars. To the best of the literature survey, this idea is found to be modern. The results deliver new insight into the geometry of the nonstatic cylindrical vacuum solution of Einstein's field equations.

Geometrizing Toverline{T}

The Toverline{T} deformation can be formulated as a dynamical change of coordinates. We establish and generalize this relation to curved spaces by coupling the undeformed theory to 2d gravity. For curved space the dynamical change of coordinates is supplemented by a dynamical Weyl transformation. We also sharpen the holographic correspondence to cutoff AdS3 in multiple ways. First, we show that the action of the annular region between the cutoff surface and the boundary of AdS3 is given precisely by the Toverline{T} operator integrated over either the cutoff surface or the asymptotic boundary. Then we derive dynamical coordinate and Weyl transformations directly from the bulk. Finally, we reproduce the flow equation for the deformed stress tensor from the cutoff geometry.

Generalised superconformal higher-spin multiplets

We propose generalised mathcal{N} = 1 superconformal higher-spin (SCHS) gauge multiplets of depth t, {Upsilon}_{alpha (n)overset{cdot }{alpha }(m)}^{(t)} , with n ≥ m ≥ 1. At the component level, for t > 2 they contain generalised conformal higher-spin (CHS) gauge fields with depths t − 1, t and t + 1. The supermultiplets with t = 1 and t = 2 include both ordinary and generalised CHS gauge fields. Super-Weyl and gauge invariant actions describing the dynamics of {Upsilon}_{alpha (n)overset{cdot }{alpha }(m)}^{(t)} on conformally-flat superspace backgrounds are then derived. For the case n = m = t = 1, corresponding to the maximal-depth conformal graviton supermultiplet, we extend this action to Bach-flat backgrounds. Models for superconformal non-gauge multiplets, which are expected to play an important role in the Bach-flat completions of the models for {Upsilon}_{alpha (n)overset{cdot }{alpha }(m)}^{(t)} , are also provided. Finally we show that, on Bach-flat backgrounds, requiring gauge and Weyl invariance does not always determine a model for a CHS field uniquely.

Constructing Carrollian CFTs

We construct classical theories for scalar fields in arbitrary Carroll spacetimes that are invariant under Carrollian diffeomorphisms and Weyl transformations. When the local symmetries are gauge fixed these theories become Carrollian conformal field theories. We show that generically there are at least two types of such theories: one in which only time derivatives of the fields appear and the other in which both space and time derivatives appear. A classification of such scalar field theories in three (and higher) dimensions up to two derivative order is provided. We show that only a special case of our theories arises in the ultra-relativistic limit of a covariant parent theory.

Weyl covariance, and proposals for superconformal prepotentials in 10D superspaces

Proposals are made to describe the Weyl scaling transformation laws of supercovariant derivatives ∇A, the torsion supertensors TABC, and curvature supertensors RABcd in 10D superspaces. Starting from the proposal that an unconstrained supergravity prepotential for the 11D, mathcal{N} = 1 theory is described by a scalar superfield, considerations for supergravity prepotentials in the 10D theories are enumerated. We derive infinitesimal 10D superspace Weyl transformation laws and discover ten possible 10D, mathcal{N} = 1 superfield supergravity prepotentials. The first identification of all off-shell ten dimensional supergeometrical Weyl field strength tensors, constructed from respective torsions, is presented.

Weyl charges in asymptotically locallyAdS3spacetimes

We discuss an enhancement of the Brown-Henneaux boundary conditions in three-dimensional AdS General Relativity to encompass Weyl transformations of the boundary metric. The resulting asymptotic symmetry algebra, after a field-dependent redefinition of the generators, is a direct sum of two copies of the Witt algebra and the Weyl abelian sector. The charges associated to Weyl transformations are non-vanishing, integrable but not conserved due to a flux driven by the Weyl anomaly coefficient. The charge algebra admits an additional non-trivial central extension in the Weyl sector, related to the well-known Weyl anomaly. We then construct the holographic Weyl current and show that it satisfies an anomalous Ward-Takahashi identity of the boundary theory.

Canonical analysis of Brans-Dicke theory addresses Hamiltonian inequivalence between the Jordan and Einstein frames

Jordan and Einstein frame are studied under the light of Hamiltonian formalism. Dirac's constraint theory for Hamiltonian systems is applied to Brans-Dicke theory in the Jordan Frame. In both Jordan and Einstein frame, Brans-Dicke theory has four secondary first class constraints and their constraint algebra is closed. We show, contrary to what is generally believed, the Weyl (conformal) transformation, between the two frames, is not a canonical transformation, in the sense of Hamiltonian formalism. This addresses quantum mechanical inequivalence as well. A canonical transformation is shown.

Active-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations and Leptogenesis

We study coherent active-sterile neutrino oscillations as a possible source of leptogenesis. To this end, we add 3 gauge invariant Weyl_R neutrinos to the Standard Model with both Dirac and Majorana type mass terms. We find that the measured active neutrino masses and mixings, and successful baryogenesis via leptogenesis, may be achieved with fine-tuning, if at least one of the sterile neutrinos has a mass in the approximate range 0.14 to 1.1 GeV.

An Ostrogradsky instability analysis of non-minimally coupled Weyl connection gravity theories

We study the Hamiltonian formalism of the non-minimally coupled Weyl connection gravity (NMCWCG) in order to check whether Ostrogradsky instabilities are present. The Hamiltonian of the NMCWCG theories is obtained by foliating space-time into a real line (representing time) and \mbox{3-dimensional} space-like hypersurfaces, and by considering the spatial metric and the extrinsic curvature of the hypersurfaces as the canonical coordinates of the theory. Given the fact that the theory we study contains an additional dynamical vector field compared to the usual NMC models, which do not have Ostrogradsky instabilities, we are able to construct an effective theory without these instabilities, by constraining this Weyl field.

Group Theoretical Approach to Pseudo-Hermitian Quantum Mechanics with Lorentz Covariance and c → ∞ Limit

We present the formulation of a version of Lorentz covariant quantum mechanics based on a group theoretical construction from a Heisenberg–Weyl symmetry with position and momentum operators transforming as Minkowski four-vectors. The basic representation is identified as a coherent state representation, essentially an irreducible component of the regular representation, with the matching representation of an extension of the group C*-algebra giving the algebra of observables. The key feature is that it is not unitary but pseudo-unitary, exactly in the same sense as the Minkowski spacetime representation. The language of pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics is adopted for a clear illustration of the aspect, with a metric operator obtained as really the manifestation of the Minkowski metric on the space of the state vectors. Explicit wavefunction description is given without any restriction of the variable domains, yet with a finite integral inner product. The associated covariant harmonic oscillator Fock state basis has all the standard properties in exact analog to those of a harmonic oscillator with Euclidean position and momentum operators. Galilean limit and the classical limit are retrieved rigorously through appropriate symmetry contractions of the algebra and its representation, including the dynamics described through the symmetry of the phase space.

Gravitational contact interactions and the physical equivalence of Weyl transformations in effective field theory

Theories of scalars and gravity, with non-minimal interactions, $\sim (M_P^2 +F(\phi) )R +L(\phi)$, have graviton exchange induced contact terms. These terms arise in single particle reducible diagrams with vertices $\propto q^2$ that cancel the Feynman propagator denominator $1/q^2$ and are familiar in various other physical contexts. In gravity these lead to additional terms in the action such as $\sim F(\phi) T_\mu^\mu(\phi)/M_P^2$ and $F(\phi)\partial^2 F(\phi)/M_P^2$. The contact terms are equivalent to induced operators obtained by a Weyl transformation that removes the non-minimal interactions, leaving a minimal Einstein-Hilbert gravitational action. This demonstrates explicitly the equivalence of different representations of the action under Weyl transformations, both classically and quantum mechanically. To avoid such "hidden contact terms" one is compelled to go to the minimal Einstein-Hilbert representation.

CFT in AdS and boundary RG flows

Using the fact that flat space with a boundary is related by a Weyl transformation to anti-de Sitter (AdS) space, one may study observables in boundary conformal field theory (BCFT) by placing a CFT in AdS. In addition to correlation functions of local operators, a quantity of interest is the free energy of the CFT computed on the AdS space with hyperbolic ball metric, i.e. with a spherical boundary. It is natural to expect that the AdS free energy can be used to define a quantity that decreases under boundary renormalization group flows. We test this idea by discussing in detail the case of the large N critical O(N) model in general dimension d, as well as its perturbative descriptions in the epsilon-expansion. Using the AdS approach, we recover the various known boundary critical behaviors of the model, and we compute the free energy for each boundary fixed point, finding results which are consistent with the conjectured F-theorem in a continuous range of dimensions. Finally, we also use the AdS setup to compute correlation functions and extract some of the BCFT data. In particular, we show that using the bulk equations of motion, in conjunction with crossing symmetry, gives an efficient way to constrain bulk two-point functions and extract anomalous dimensions of boundary operators.