No Arabic abstract
In pregeometry a metric arises as a composite object at large distances. For short distances we investigate a Yang-Mills theory with fermions and vector fields. The particular representation of the vector fields permits to formulate diffeomorphism invariant kinetic terms. Geometry and general relativity emerge at large distances by spontaneous symmetry breaking inducing masses for the gauge bosons. We propose here a model of pregeometry for which the difference between time and space, as reflected by the signature of the metric, arises from spontaneous symmetry breaking of the local SO(4,,$mathbb{C}$)-gauge symmetry. For a euclidean metric all fields have a standard propagator at high momenta. Analytic continuation to a Minkowski-metric is achieved by a change of field values. We conjecture that a quantum effective action of this type is consistent with unitarity and well behaved in the short distance limit.
Einsteins general relativity can emerge from pregeometry, with the metric composed of more fundamental fields. We formulate euclidean pregeometry as a $SO(4)$ - Yang-Mills theory. In addition to the gauge fields we include a vector field in the vector representation of the gauge group. The gauge - and diffeomorphism - invariant kinetic terms for these fields permit a well-defined euclidean functional integral, in contrast to metric gravity with the Einstein-Hilbert action. The propagators of all fields are well behaved at short distances, without tachyonic or ghost modes. The long distance behavior is governed by the composite metric and corresponds to general relativity. In particular, the graviton propagator is free of ghost or tachyonic poles despite the presence of higher order terms in a momentum expansion of the inverse propagator. This pregeometry seems to be a valid candidate for euclidean quantum gravity, without obstructions for analytic continuation to a Minkowski signature of the metric.
We perform a rigorous piecewise-flat discretization of classical general relativity in the first-order formulation, in both 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions, carefully keeping track of curvature and torsion via holonomies. We show that the resulting phase space is precisely that of spin networks, the quantum states of discrete spacetime in loop quantum gravity, with additional degrees of freedom called edge modes, which control the gluing between cells. This work establishes, for the first time, a rigorous proof of the equivalence between spin networks and piecewise-flat geometries with curvature and torsion degrees of freedom. In addition, it demonstrates that careful consideration of edge modes is crucial both for the purpose of this proof and for future work in the field of loop quantum gravity. It also shows that spin networks have a dual description related to teleparallel gravity, where gravity is encoded in torsion instead of curvature degrees of freedom. Finally, it sets the stage for collaboration between the loop quantum gravity community and theoretical physicists working on edge modes from other perspectives, such as quantum electrodynamics, non-abelian gauge theories, and classical gravity.
We present an analysis of the behaviour at late-times of linear field perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole space-time. In particular, we give explicit analytic expressions for the field perturbations (for a specific multipole) of general spin up to the first four orders at late times. These expressions are valid at arbitrary radius and include, apart from the well-known power-law tail decay at leading order ($sim t^{-2ell-3}$), a new logarithmic behaviour at third leading order ($sim t^{-2ell-5}ln t$). We obtain these late-time results by developing the so-called MST formalism and by expanding the various MST Fourier-mode quantities for small frequency. While we give explicit expansions up to the first four leading orders (for small-frequency for the Fourier modes, for late-time for the field perturbation), we give a prescription for obtaining expressions to arbitrary order within a `perturbative regime.
The method of adiabatic invariants for time dependent Hamiltonians is applied to a massive scalar field in a de Sitter space-time. The scalar field ground state, its Fock space and coherent states are constructed and related to the particle states. Diverse quantities of physical interest are illustrated, such as particle creation and the way a classical probability distribution emerges for the system at late times.
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity are known to allow significant deviations from general relativity through various astrophysical phenomena. In this paper, we formulate a scalar-connection gravity by setting up scalars and connection configurations instead of metric. Since the matter sector is not straightforward to conceive without a metric, we invoke cosmological fluids in terms of their one-form velocity in the volume element of the invariant action. This leads to gravitational equations with a perfect fluid source and a generated metric, which are expected to produce reasonable deviations from general relativity in the strong-field regime. As a relevant application, we study spontaneous scalarization mechanism and show that the Damour-Esposito-Far`{e}se model arises in a certain class of scalar-connection gravity. Furthermore, we investigate a general study in which the present framework becomes distinguishable from the famed scalar-tensor theories.