f(R,L m ) gravity

We generalize the f(R) type gravity models by assuming that the gravitational Lagrangian is given by an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar R and of the matter Lagrangian L _m . We obtain the gravitational field equations in the metric formalism, as well as the equations of motion for test particles, which follow from the covariant divergence of the energy-momentum tensor. The equations of motion for test particles can also be derived from a variational principle in the particular case in which the Lagrangian density of the matter is an arbitrary function of the energy density of the matter only. Generally, the motion is non-geodesic, and it takes place in the presence of an extra force orthogonal to the four-velocity. The Newtonian limit of the equation of motion is also considered, and a procedure for obtaining the energy-momentum tensor of the matter is presented. The gravitational field equations and the equations of motion for a particular model in which the action of the gravitational field has an exponential dependence on the standard general relativistic Hilbert–Einstein Lagrange density are also derived.     

Field equations and conservation laws in the nonsymmetric gravitational theory

The field equations in the nonsymmetric gravitational theory are derived from a Lagrangian density using a first-order formalism. Using the general covariance of the Lagrangian density, conservation laws and tensor identities are derived. Among these are the generalized Bianchi identities and the law of energy-momentum conservation. The Lagrangian density is expanded to second-order, and treated as an Einstein plus fields theory. From this, it is deduced that the energy is positive in the radiation zone.     

Nonlinear massive spin-2 field generated by higher derivative gravity

We present a systematic exposition of the Lagrangian field theory for the massive spin-2 field generated in higher-derivative gravity upon reduction to a second-order theory by means of the appropriate Legendre transformation. It has been noticed by various authors that this nonlinear field overcomes the well-known inconsistency of the theory for a linear massive spin-2 field interacting with Einstein’s gravity. Starting from a Lagrangian quadratically depending on the Ricci tensor of the metric, we explore the two possible second-order pictures usually called “(Helmholtz-)Jordan frame” and “Einstein frame.” In spite of their mathematical equivalence, the two frames have different structural properties: in Einstein frame, the spin-2 field is minimally coupled to gravity, while in the other frame it is necessarily coupled to the curvature, without a separate kinetic term. We prove that the theory admits a unique and linearly stable ground state solution, and that the equations of motion are consistent, showing that these results can be obtained independently in either frame (each frame therefore provides a self-contained theory). The full equations of motion and the (variational) energy-momentum tensor for the spin-2 field in Einstein frame are given, and a simple but non-trivial exact solution to these equations is found. The comparison of the energy-momentum tensors for the spin-2 field in the two frames suggests that the Einstein frame is physically more acceptable. We point out that the energy-momentum tensor generated by the Lagrangian of the linearized theory is unrelated to the corresponding tensor of the full theory. It is then argued that the ghost-like nature of the nonlinear spin-2 field, found long ago in the linear approximation, may not be so harmful to classical stability issues, as has been expected.     

Variational principle and limit relations in the unified theory of gravitational,electromagnetic, and scalar fields

Within the framework of a special version of unified bimetrical field theory [1], starting from the explicit form of the Lagrangian L, the principal expressions are derived: the field equations, the energy-momentum tensor, the generalized equations of electrodynamics, the conservation laws. Various limiting cases are considered. It is shown that the equations for the electromagnetic field can be obtained as a consequence of the conservation law for the energy-momentum of the unified field.     

On energy-momentum tensors as sourcesof spin-2 fields

The improvement terms in the generalised energy-momentum tensor of Callan, Coleman and Jackiw can be derived from a variational principle if the Lagrangian is generalised to describe coupling between ‘matter’ fields and a spin-2 boson field. The required Lorentz-invariant theory is a linearised version of Kibble-Sciama theory with an additional (generally-covariant) coupling term in the Lagrangian. The improved energy-momentum tensor appears as the source of the spin-2 field, if terms of second order in the coupling constant are neglected.     

Equations of motion from field equations and a gauge-invariant variational principle for the motion of charged particles

New, gauge-independent, second-order Lagrangian for the motion of classical, charged test particles is proposed. It differs from the standard, gauge-dependent, first-order Lagrangian by boundary terms only. A new method of deriving equations of motion from field equations is developed. When applied to classical electrodynamics, this method enables us to obtain unambiguously the above, second-order Lagrangian from the general energy-momentum conservation principle.     

Energy and momentum from the Palatini formalism

I derive from the Palatini formalism, in which metric and affinity are varied independently, an energy-momentum complex qualitatively different in form from the usual energy-momentum representations of general relativity. A similar procedure can be carried out for electrodynamics, illuminating by analogy the structure of the gravitational Lagrangian. The new energy density vanishes for all static vacuum solutions of the Einstein equations, and the radiated energy from an isolated system in an asymptotically flat space in general diverges. These facts suggest that the formalism could be used to express Mach's principle.     

Currents and the energy-momentum tensor in classical field theory: a fresh look at an old problem

We give a comprehensive review of various methods to define currents and the energy-momentum tensor in classical field theory, with emphasis on a geometric point of view. The necessity of “improving” the expressions provided by the canonical Noether procedure is addressed and given an adequate geometric framework. The main new ingredient is the explicit formulation of a principle of “ultralocality” with respect to the symmetry generators, which is shown to fix the ambiguity inherent in the procedure of improvement and guide it towards a unique answer: when combined with the appropriate splitting of the fields into sectors, it leads to the well-known expressions for the current as the variational derivative of the matter field Lagrangian with respect to the gauge field and for the energy-momentum tensor as the variational derivative of the matter field Lagrangian with respect to the metric tensor. In the second case, the procedure is shown to work even when the matter field Lagrangian depends explicitly on the curvature, thus establishing the correct relation between scale invariance, in the form of local Weyl invariance “on shell”, and tracelessness of the energy-momentum tensor, required for a consistent definition of the concept of a conformal field theory.     

Exact theory of the (Einstein) gravitational field in an arbitrary background space-time

The Lagrangian based theory of the gravitational field and its sources at the arbitrary background space-time is developed. The equations of motion and the energy-momentum tensor of the gravitational field are derived by applying the variational principle. The gauge symmetries of the theory and the associated conservation laws are investigated. Some properties of the energymomentum tensor of the gravitational field are described in detail and the examples of its application are given. The desire to have the total energymomentum tensor as a source for the linear part of the gravitational field leads to the universal coupling of gravity with other fields (as well as to the self-interaction) and finally to the Einstein theory.     

Can the Local Energy-Momentum Conservation Laws be Derived Solely from Field Equations?

The vanishing of the divergence of the matter stress-energy tensor for General Relativity is a particular case of a general identity, which follows from the covariance of the matter Lagrangian in much the same way as (generalized) Bianchi identities follow from the covariance of the purely gravitational Lagrangian. This identity, holding for any covariant theory of gravitating matter, relates the divergence of the stress tensor with a combination of the field equations and their derivatives. One could thus wonder if, according to a recent suggestion [1], the energy-momentum tensor for gravitating fields can be computed through a suitable rearrangement of the matter field equations, without relying on the variational definition. We show that this can be done only in particular cases, while in general it leads to ambiguities and possibly to wrong results. Moreover, in nontrivial cases the computations turn out to be more difficult than the standard variational technique.     

Gravitational Energy-Momentum and Conservation of Energy-Momentum in General Relativity

Based on a general variational principle, Einstein-Hilbert action and sound facts from geometry, it is shown that the long existing pseudotensor, non-localizability problem of gravitational energy-momentum is a result of mistaking different geometrical, physical objects as one and the same. It is also pointed out that in a curved spacetime, the sum vector of matter energy-momentum over a finite hyper-surface can not be defined. In curvilinear coordinate systems conservation of matter energy-momentum is not the continuity equations for its components. Conservation of matter energy-momentum is the vanishing of the covariant divergence of its density-flux tensor field. Introducing gravitational energy-momentum to save the law of conservation of energy-momentum is unnecessary and improper. After reasonably defining “change of a particle’s energy-momentum”, we show that gravitational field does not exchange energy-momentum with particles. And it does not exchange energy-momentum with matter fields either. Therefore, the gravitational field does not carry energy-momentum, it is not a force field and gravity is not a natural force.     

Gauge Fields in General Parametrical Approach and Their Finslerian Reduction

The covariance principle of general relativity is extended to internal space. Associated gauge fields and tensors are systematically described, whereupon the variational principle is set up for all gauge fields by applying a Palatini-type method, thereby giving rise to an attractive self-contained theory in which the Einstein equations are intrinsically synthesized with the generalized Yang-Mills equations. General gauge-covariant physical field equations are formulated, showing that currents, external + internal spin tensors, and energy-momentum tensors can be introduced unambiguously under these general conditions and that the associated conservation laws can be derived. The electromagnetic field finds its gauge-geometric origin as the gauge field related to internal densities. To be operative with the tensor indices of external and internal types, this general theory must be bimetric. The assumptions that the gauge-covariant derivatives of metric tensors should vanish simplify the theory to the level of a Finslerian gauge approach.     

Clifford Algebra Formulation of an Electromagnetic Charge-Current Wave Theory

In this work, a Clifford algebra approach is used to introduce a charge-current wave structure governed by a Maxwell-like set of equations. A known spinor representation of the electromagnetic field intensities is utilized to recast the equations governing the charge-current densities in a Dirac-like spinor form. Energy-momentum considerations lead to a generalization of the Maxwell electromagnetic symmetric energy-momentum tensor. The generalized tensor includes new terms that represent contributions from the charge-current densities. Stationary spherical modal solutions representing the charge-current densities and the associated self-fields are derived. The use of a Clifford type dependence on time results in a distinct symmetry between the magnetic and electric components. It is shown that, for such spherical modes, the components of the force density deduced from the generalized energy-momentum tensor can vanish under certain conditions.     

Palatini-type variational principle for the SL(2, C) gauge theory of gravitation

An explicitly SL(2, C) gauge-invariant Lagrangian density, equivalent to Hilbert's Lagrangian density, is written, and a Palatini-type variational principle is applied to it. The resulting field equations are Einstein's equations written in dyad notation and a set of equations defining the spin coefficients in terms of the components of the null tetrad vectors and their directional derivatives. The techniques employed throughout this article are those which were developed in the SL(2, C) gauge theory of gravitation.     

Local Scale Invariance and General Relativity

According to the theory of unimodular relativity developed by Anderson and Finkelstein, the equations of general relativity with a cosmological constant are composed of two independent equations, one which determines the null-cone structure of space-time, another which determines the measure structure of space-time. The field equations that follow from the restricted variational principle of this version of general relativity only determine the null-cone structure and are globally scale-invariant and scale-free. We show that the electromagnetic field may be viewed as a compensating gauge field that guarantees local scale invariance of these field equations. In this way, Weyl's geometry is revived. However, the two principle objections to Weyl's theory do not apply to the present formulation: the Lagrangian remains first order in the curvature scalar and the nonintegrability of length only applies to the null-cone structure.     

Lorentz-Covariant theory of gravitation

A Lorentz-covariant theory of gravitation is proposed. It is based on a simple form of the Lagrangian for the gravitational field. The field equations have a simple mathematical structure where the energy-momentum tensor of matter and of gravitational field is the source of the field. The theory agrees with general relativity for the three well-known effects, i.e., red shift, deflection of light, and perihelion.     

Magnetic symmetry and dyons

A self-consistent theory of dyons in Abelian and non-Abelian limits has been formulated in terms of an extra magnetic symmetry and topological magnetic charge. It has been shown that the restricted gauge potential describes the fields of dyons in terms of two regular (time-like) potentials only when recourse is made to the duality of topological (magnetic) and isocolour (electric) charges. Choosing a suitable Lagrangian density for the system of dyons in non-Abelian gauge theory, the field equations, energy-momentum tensor, Hamiltonian and momentum densities have also been derived and the conservation of the four-linear momentum and the total angular momentum has been demonstrated.     

Positivity of energy and conditions on form factors in interaction Lagrangians

We show that a conserved energy-momentum tensor for a system of classical fields with non-local interaction, as given in an Ansatz by Pauli, exists, if and only if the field equations are derivable from a Lagrangian. In contrast to the total momentum four-vector the tensor is not unique. By means of a model of classical fields it is shown that form factors vanishing for large values in momentum space can lead to arbitrary large negative energies. This will greatly restrict the possibility of introducing non-local interactions.     

Bi-Hamiltonian Structure in 2-d Field Theory

We exhibit the bi-Hamiltonian structure of the equations of associativity (Witten-Dijkgraaf-Verlinde-Verlinde-Dubrovin equations) in 2-d topological field theory, which reduce to a single equation of Monge-Ampère type in the case of three primary fields. The first Hamiltonian structure of this equation is based on its representation as a 3-component system of hydrodynamic type and the second Hamiltonian structure follows from its formulation in terms of a variational principle with a degenerate Lagrangian. Received: 1 March 1996 / Accepted: 25 October 1996