Gravitational Goldstone fields from affine gauge theory

We give a description of gravitons in terms of an SL(2,C) connection field. The gauge-theoretic Lagrangian for gravitons is simpler than the metric one. Moreover, all components of the connection field have the same sign in front of their kinetic term, unlike what happens in the metric formalism. The gauge-theoretic description is also more economic than the standard one because the Lagrangian only depends on 8 components of the field per spacetime point as compared to 10 in ...

In this manuscript, we will discuss the construction of covariant derivative operator in quantum gravity. We will find it is more perceptive to use affine connections more general than metric compatible connections in quantum gravity. We will demonstrate this using the canonical quantization procedure. This is valid irrespective of the presence and nature of sources. The Palatini and metric-affine formalisms, where metric and affine connections are the independent variables, ...

When joined the unified gauge picture of fundamental interactions, the gravitation theory leads to geometry of a space-time which is far from simplicity of pseudo-Riemannian geometry of Einstein's General Relativity. This is geometry of the affine-metric composite dislocated manifolds. The goal is modification of the familiar equations of a gravitational field and entirely the new equations of its deviations. In the present brief, we do not detail the mathematics, but discuss...

The approach of metric-affine gravity initially distinguishes it from Einstein's general relativity. Using an independent affine connection produces a theory with 10+64 unknowns. We write down the Yang-Mills action for the affine connection and produce the Yang-Mills equation and the so called complementary Yang-Mills equation by independently varying with respect to the connection and the metric respectively. We call this theory the Yang-Mielke theory of gravity. We construc...

In this paper we elaborate on the idea of an emergent spacetime which arises due to the dynamical breaking of diffeomorphism invariance in the early universe. In preparation for an explicit symmetry breaking scenario, we consider nonlinear realizations of the group of analytical diffeomorphisms which provide a unified description of spacetime structures. We find that gravitational fields, such as the affine connection, metric and coordinates, can all be interpreted as Goldsto...

This work demonstrates that a complete description of the interaction of matter and all forces, gravitational and non-gravitational, can in fact be realized within a quantum affine algebraic framework. Using the affine group formalism, we construct elements of a physical Hilbert space for full, Lorentzian quantum gravity coupled to the Standard Model in four spacetime dimensions. Affine algebraic quantization of gravitation and matter on equal footing implies a fundamental un...

In a talk at the conference {\it Geometrical Foundations of Gravity at Tartu 2017}, it was suggested that the affine spacetime connection could be associated with purely fictitious forces. This leads to gravitation in a flat and smooth geometry. Fermions are found to nevertheless couple with the metrical connection and a phase gauge field. The theory is reviewed in this proceeding, in a Palatini and in a metric-affine gauge formulation.

We discuss new models of an `affine' theory of gravity in multidimensional space-times with symmetric connections. We use and develop ideas of Weyl, Eddington, and Einstein, in particular, Einstein's proposal to specify the space - time geometry by use of the Hamilton principle. More specifically, the connection coefficients are determined using a `geometric' Lagrangian that is an arbitrary function of the generalized (non-symmetric) Ricci curvature tensor (and, possibly, of ...

We show that the effective field equations for a recently formulated polynomial affine model of gravity, in the sector of a torsion-free connection, accept general Einstein manifolds---with or without cosmological constant---as solutions. Moreover, the effective field equations are partially those obtained from a gravitational Yang--Mills theory known as Stephenson--Kilmister--Yang theory. Additionally, we find a generalization of a minimally coupled massless scalar field in ...

The special Galileon stands out amongst scalar field theories due to its soft limits, non-linear symmetries and scattering amplitudes. This prompts the question what the origin of its underlying symmetry is. We show that it is intimately connected to general relativity: the special Galileon is the Goldstone mode of the affine group, consisting of linear coordinate transformations, analogous to the dilaton for conformal symmetries. We construct the corresponding metric, and di...