Conformal invariance and torsion in general relativity

We study a theory for gravity in which the linear connections are assumed to be arbitrary, except that they are restricted to satisfy the metric condition g=0. A scalar field is added to the theory, and a conformally invariant action integral, linear in the curvature tensor, is defined. The linear connections emerging from the variational principle contain torsion that is related to a propagating spin-1 vector field, identified as the electromagnetic gauge potential. We obtain a set of conformally invariant equations for the metric field, and conclude that Einstein's equations arise from a particular choice of gauge. Finally, spin-1/2 fields are introduced by means of the vierbein formalism, and the qualitative features of the theory are maintained.