We consider the Principle of Equivalence along with Weyl theorem to discuss the interpretation of gravity as a geometric effect; we study what are the restrictions on the connections that must be required for this geometrization to occur in the most general case.
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin(柏林洪堡大学);Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut)(马克斯·普朗克引力物理研究所(爱因斯坦研究所));Universidad Complutense de Madrid(马德里康普顿斯大学);Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies(都柏林高等研究院);Charles University(查理大学)
The two-point Wightman function of the free photon field defined in a gauge-invariant manner is known to be equivalent to the field-strength two-point function in any spacetime that is topologically trivial. We show that the gauge-invariant graviton two-point function defined in a similar manner is equivalent to the Weyl-tensor two-point function in Minkowski space and in the Poincare patch of de Sitter space. This implies that in the Poincare patch of de Sitter space the gauge-invariant graviton two-point function decays like (distance)^(-4) as a function of coordinate distance for spacelike …
We investigate the behavior of generic, matter-coupled, 2D dilaton gravity theories under dilaton-dependent Weyl rescalings of the metric. We show that physical observables associated with 2D black holes, such as the mass, the temperature and the flux of Hawking radiation are invariant under the action of both Weyl transformations and dilaton reparametrizations. The field theoretical and geometrical meaning of these invariances is discussed.
Theories of scalars and gravity, with non-minimal interactions, $\sim (M_P^2 +F(ϕ) )R +L(ϕ)$, 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 $\sim F(ϕ) T_μ^μ(ϕ)/M_P^2$ and $F(ϕ)\partial^2 F(ϕ)/M_P^2$. The contact terms are equivalent to induced operators obtained by a Weyl transformation that removes the non-minimal interactions, leaving a min…
A Weyl structure is usually defined by an equivalence class of pairs $({\bf g}, \boldsymbolω)$ related by Weyl transformations, which preserve the relation $\nabla {\bf g}=\boldsymbolω\otimes{\bf g}$, where ${\bf g}$ and $\boldsymbolω$ denote the metric tensor and a 1-form field. An equivalent way of defining such a structure is as an equivalence class of conformally related metrics with a unique affine connection $Γ_{\boldsymbolω}$, which is invariant under Weyl transformations. In a standard Weyl structure, this unique connection is assumed to be torsion-free and have vectorial non-metricity…
Recently, an extension of teleparallelism to a Weyl geometry which allows us to easily establish conformal invariance and "geometrize" electromagnetism has been presented. In this paper, I extend a result which concerns the existence of the Schwarzschild solution to a particular class of this extension. In addition, I obtain the field equations of some models based on this extension, including the one which is equivalent to Einstein's field equations with a massless scalar field.
We explore four-dimensional Einstein-Weyl gravity and supergravity on anti-de Sitter spacetime. For a specific range of the coupling with appropriate boundary conditions, we show the effective equivalence of the theory with Einstein gravity and AdS supergravity at the quadratic Lagrangian level. Furthermore we show that these equivalences can be promoted to the full nonlinear level. We also show that the similar behavior holds for the generalized Gibbons-Hawking terms. From this we find that the correlation functions in the dual conformal field theory of Einstein-Weyl gravity and supergravity …
We study various classical aspects of the Weyl transverse (WTDiff) gravity in a general space-time dimension. First of all, we clarify a classical equivalence among three kinds of gravitational theories, those are, the conformally-invariant scalar tensor gravity, Einstein's general relativity and the WTDiff gravity via the gauge fixing procedure. Secondly, we show that in the WTDiff gravity the cosmological constant is a mere integration constant as in unimodular gravity, but it does not receive any radiative corrections unlike the unimodular gravity. A key point in this proof is to construct …
General Relativity formulated with Noncommutative geometry allows one to obtain, via the fluctuation of Dirac operator, an exact equivalence principle: generation of curvature and torsion from flat space. The fluctuation method presented in this report is applied on two examples.
The Hessling improvement of the Haag, Narnhofer and Stein principle is analysed in the case of a massless scalar field propagating outside of an extremal R-N black hole. It is found that this sort of ``Quantum (Einstein's) Equivalence Principle'' selects only the R-N vacuum as a physically sensible state, i.e., it selects the temperature $T=0$ only.
We review the possible violation of the Equivalence Principle at finite temperature T in the framework of curvature based Extended Theories of Gravity. Specifically, we first show how it is possible to derive Equivalence Principle violation from Quantum Field Theory at non-vanishing T. Subsequently, we exhibit how this result can be precisely recovered by following an alternative path that envisages the employment of generalized Einstein equations with a temperature-dependent energy-momentum tensor. Finally, we adopt the latter formalism in the context of some Extended Gravity models to quanti…
We consider scalar-tensor theories of gravity defined in Weyl integrable space-time and show that in the ADM formalism Weyl transformations corresponding to change of frames induce canonical transformations between different representations of the phase space. In this context, we discuss the physical equivalence of two distinct Weyl frames at the classical level.
Limits for the applicability of the equivalence principle are considered in the context of low-energy effective field theories. In particular, we find a class of higher-derivative interactions for the gravitational and electromagnetic fields which produce dispersive photon propagation. The latter is illustrated by calculating the energy-dependent contribution to the deflection of light rays.
The usual interpretation of Weyl geometry is modified in two senses. First, both the additive Weyl connection and its variation are treated as (1, 2) tensors under the action of Weyl covariant derivative. Second, a modified covariant derivative operator is introduced which still preserves the tensor structure of the theory. With its help, the Riemann tensor in Weyl geometry can be written in a more compact form. We justify this modification in detail from several aspects and obtain some insights along the way. By introducing some new transformation rules for the variation of tensors under the …
We give a general overview of various flavors of the equivalence principle in classical and quantum physics, with special emphasis on the so-called weak equivalence principle, and contrast its validity in mechanics versus field theory. We also discuss its generalisation to a theory of quantum gravity. Our analysis suggests that only the strong equivalence principle can be considered fundamental enough to be generalised to a quantum gravity context, since all other flavors of equivalence principle hold only approximately already at the classical level.
We consider possible violations of the equivalence principle through the exchange of a light `dilaton-like' scalar field. Using recent work on the quark-mass dependence of nuclear binding, we find that the dilaton-quark-mass coupling induces significant equivalence-principle-violating effects varying like the inverse cubic root of the atomic number - A^{-1/3}. We provide a general parameterization of the scalar couplings, but argue that two parameters are likely to dominate the equivalence-principle phenomenology. We indicate the implications of this framework for comparing the sensitivities o…
We discuss the current bounds on the Equivalence Principle, in particular from structure formation and, reexamine in this context, the recent claim on the evidence of the interaction between dark matter and dark energy in the Abell Cluster A586 and the ensued violation of the Equivalence Principle.
A longstanding open problem in mathematical physics has been that of finding an action principle for the Einstein-Weyl (EW) equations. In this paper, we present for the first time such an action principle in three dimensions in which the Weyl vector is not exact. More precisely, our model contains, in addition to the Weyl nonmetricity, a traceless part. If the latter is (consistently) set to zero, the equations of motion boil down to the EW equations. In particular, we consider a metric affine $f(R)$ gravity action plus additional terms involving Lagrange multipliers and gravitational Chern-Si…
The work argues the principle of equivalence to be a theorem and not a principle (in a sense of an axiom). It contains a detailed analysis of the concepts of normal and inertial frame of reference. The equivalence principle is proved to be valid (at every point and along every path) in any gravitational theory based on linear connections. Possible generalizations of the equivalence principle are pointed out.
We examine the necessary physical underpinnings for setting up the cosmological standard model with a global cosmic time parameter. In particular, we discuss the role of Weyl's principle which asserts that cosmic matter moves according to certain regularity requirements. After a brief historical introduction to Weyl's principle we argue that although the principle is often not explicitly mentioned in modern standard texts on cosmology, it is implicitly assumed and is, in fact, necessary for a physically well-defined notion of cosmic time. We finally point out that Weyl's principle might be in …
We explore the interplay between the equivalence principle and a generalization of the Heisenberg uncertainty relations known as extended uncertainty principle, that comprises the effects of spacetime curvature at large distances. Specifically, we observe that, when the modified uncertainty relations hold, the weak formulation of the equivalence principle is violated, since the inertial mass of quantum systems becomes position-dependent whilst the gravitational mass is left untouched. To obtain the above result, spinor and scalar fields are separately analyzed by considering the non-relativist…
We find that the Abell Cluster A586 exhibits evidence of the interaction between dark matter and dark energy and argue that this interaction suggests evidence of violation of the Equivalence Principle. This violation is found in the context of two different models of dark energy-dark matter interaction.
We discuss our understanding of the equivalence principle in both classical mechanics and quantum mechanics. We show that not only does the equivalence principle hold for the trajectories of quantum particles in a background gravitational field, but also that it is only because of this that the equivalence principle is even to be expected to hold for classical particles at all.
The equivalence principle is the conceptual basis for general relativity. In contrast Mach's principle, although said to have been influential on Einstein in his formulation of general relativity, has not been shown to be central to the structure of general relativity. In this essay we suggest that the quantum effects of Hawking and Unruh radiation are a manifestation of a {\it thermal} Mach's principle, where the local thermodynamic properties of the system are determined by the non-local structure of the quantum fields which determine the vacuum of a given spacetime. By comparing Hawking and…
We analyze possible violations of the Equivalence Principle in scalar-tensor gravity at finite temperature $T.$ Before we present an approach where the Equivalence Principle violation is achieved within the framework of Quantum Field Theory. After, we rely on an alternative approach first proposed by Gasperini, which leads to the same outcome obtained in the framework of Quantum Field Theory (one-loop corrections) at finite $T$. Finally, we exhibit the application of the above formalism both to a generic diagonal metric, cast in spherical coordinates, and to the Brans-Dicke theory. In the last…
The role of the equivalence principle in the context of non-relativistic quantum mechanics and matter wave interferometry, especially atom beam interferometry, will be discussed. A generalised form of the weak equivalence principle which is capable of covering quantum phenomena too, will be proposed. It is shown that this generalised equivalence principle is valid for matter wave interferometry and for the dynamics of expectation values. In addition, the use of this equivalence principle makes it possible to determine the structure of the interaction of quantum systems with gravitational and i…
The equivalence of inertial and gravitational masses is a defining feature of general relativity. Here, we clarify the status of the equivalence principle for interactions mediated by a universally coupled scalar, motivated partly by recent attempts to modify gravity at cosmological distances. Although a universal scalar-matter coupling is not mandatory, once postulated, it is stable against classical and quantum renormalizations in the matter sector. The coupling strength itself is subject to renormalization of course. The scalar equivalence principle is violated only for objects for which ei…
We present a direct confirmation of the validity of the equivalence principle for unstructured test bodies in scalar tensor gravity. Our analysis is complementary to previous approaches and valid for a large class of scalar-tensor theories of gravitation. A covariant approach is used to derive the equations of motion in a systematic way and allows for the experimental test of scalar-tensor theories by means of extended test bodies.
The Einstein equivalence principle is based on the equality of gravitational mass and inertial mass, which has led to the universality of a free-fall concept. The principle has been extremely well tested so far and has been tested with a great precision. However, all these tests and the corresponding arguments are based on a classical setup where the notion of position and velocity of the mass is associated with a classical value as opposed to the quantum entities. Here, we will provide a simple protocol based on creating large spatial superposition states in a laboratory to test the fully qua…
We generalize E. Verlinde's entropic gravity reasoning to a phase-space noncommutativity set-up. This allow us to impose a bound on the product of the noncommutative parameters based on the Equivalence Principle. The key feature of our analysis is an effective Planck's constant that naturally arises when accounting for the noncommutative features of the phase-space.
Equivalence principles played a central role in the development of general relativity. Furthermore, they have provided operative procedures for testing the validity of general relativity, or constraining competing theories of gravitation. This has led to a flourishing of different, and inequivalent, formulations of these principles, with the undesired consequence that often the same name, "equivalence principle", is associated with statements having a quite different physical meaning. In this paper we provide a precise formulation of the several incarnations of the equivalence principle, clari…
The Einstein's equivalence principle is formulated in terms of the accuracy of measurements and its dependence of the size of the area of measurement. It is shown that different refinements of the statement 'the spacetime is locally flat' lead to different conculsions about the spacetime geometry.
We consider possible tests of the Einstein Equivalence Principle for quantum-mechanical vacuum energies by evaluating the Lamb shift transition in a class of non-metric theories of gravity described by the \tmu formalism. We compute to lowest order the associated red shift and time dilation parameters, and discuss how (high-precision) measurements of these quantities could provide new information on the validity of the equivalence principle.
Long before the general theory of relativity was finally formulated in 1916, arguments based entirely on Einstein's equivalence principle predicted the well known phenomenon of the gravitational red shift. Precisely the same arguments are widely being used today to derive the same phenomenon. Accordingly, it is often claimed that the observed gravitational red shift is a verification of the equivalence principle rather than a verification of the full theory of general relativity. Here we show that, contrary to these claims, the arguments based on the equivalence principle are false and that \i…
Bekenstein has shown that violation of Weak Equivalence Principle is strongly supressed in his model of charge variation. In this paper, it is shown that nuclear magnetic energy is large enough to produce observable effects in Eotvos experiments.
Higher-dimensional theories of the kind which may unify gravitation with particle physics can lead to significant modifications of general relativity. In five dimensions, the vacuum becomes non-standard, and the Weak Equivalence Principle becomes a geometrical symmetry which can be broken, perhaps at a level detectable by new tests in space.
String theory suggests the existence of gravitational-strength scalar fields ("dilaton" and "moduli") whose couplings to matter violate the equivalence principle. This provides a new motivation for high-precision clock experiments, as well as a generic theoretical framework for analyzing their significance.
On incorporating special relativity theory into an extended equivalence principle, post-Newtonian gravitational phenomena beyond that originally predicted by Einstein are predicted (required), such as geodetic and gravitomagnetic precessions of local inertial frames, and precession of Mercury's orbital perihelion. Why were not these phenomena predicted in the years 1907-1911? The unique 1/c^2 order dynamical equations for clock rates and motion of both bodies and light in local gravity are derived which guarantee fulfillment of the special relativistic equivalence principle.
The gedanken-experiment of Einstein's lift is analyzed in order of determining whether the free-falling observer inside the lift can detect the eventual topological non-triviality of space-time
A study of kinematics of a 2-body system is used to show that the Mach principle, previously rejected by general relativity, can still serve as an alternative to the concept of absolute space, if one takes into account that the background of distant stars (galaxies) determines {\it both} the inertial and the gravitational masses of a body.
String theory suggests the existence of gravitational-strength scalar fields (``dilaton'' and ``moduli'') whose couplings to matter violate the equivalence principle. This provides a new motivation for high-precision clock experiments, as well as a generic theoretical framework for analyzing their significance.
Nordstrom's theory of gravity, which describes gravity by a scalar field in flat spacetime, is observationally ruled out. It is however the only theory of gravity with General Relativity to obey the strong equivalence principle. I show in this paper that this remarkable property is true beyond post-newtonian level and can be related to the existence of a 'Nordstrom-Katz' superpotential.
A seemingly obvious extension of the weak equivalence principle, in which all matter must respond to Post-Newtonian gravitational fields, such as Lense-Thirring and radiation fields, in a composition-independent way, is considered in light of the Kramers-Kronig dispersion relations for the linear response of any material medium to these fields. It is argued that known observational facts lead to violations of this extended form of the equivalence principle. (PACS numbers: 04.80.Cc, 04.80.Nn, 03.65.Ud, 67.40.Bz)
We study the equivalence principle and its violations by quantum effects in scalar-tensor theories that admit a conformal frame in which matter only couples to the spacetime metric. These theories possess Ward identities that guarantee the validity of the weak equivalence principle to all orders in the matter coupling constants. These Ward identities originate from a broken Weyl symmetry under which the scalar field transforms by a shift, and from the symmetry required to couple a massless spin two particle to matter (diffeomorphism invariance). But the same identities also predict violations …
Part of the theoretical motivation for improving the present level of testing of the equivalence principle is reviewed. The general rationale for optimizing the choice of pairs of materials to be tested is presented. One introduces a simplified rationale based on a trichotomy of competing classes of theoretical models.
In this paper we explicitly show that in general relativity, the relative velocity of two local inertial frames is always less than the velocity of light. This fact is a by-product of the equivalence principle. The general result is then illustrated within two examples, the FLRW cosmological model and the Schwarzschild metric.
The $THεμ$ formalism was developed to study nonmetric theories of gravitation. In this letter we show that theories that violate Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) or Local Position Invariance (LPI) also violate charge conservation. Using upper bounds on this violation we can put very stringent limits to violations of Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP). These limits, in turn, severely restrict string-based models of low energy physics.
We consider the empirical validity of the equivalence principle for non-baryonic matter. Working in the context of the THεμformalism, we evaluate the constraints experiments place on parameters associated with violation of the equivalence principle (EVPs) over as wide a sector of the standard model as possible. Specific examples include new parameter constraints which arise from torsion balance experiments, gravitational red shift, variation of the fine structure constant, time-dilation measurements, and matter/antimatter experiments. We find several new bounds on EVPs in the leptonic and kaon…
Modern formulations of equivalence principles provide the foundation for an efficient approach to understanding and organizing the structural features of gravitation field theories. Since theories' predictions reflect differences in their structures, principles of equivalence also support an efficient experimental strategy for testing gravitation theories and for exploring the range of conceivable gravitation physics. These principles focus attention squarely on empirical consequences of the fundamental structural differences that distinguish one gravitation theory from another. Interestingly,…
We consider possible tests of the Einstein Equivalence Principle for physical systems in which quantum-mechanical vacuum energies cannot be neglected. Specific tests include a search for the manifestation of non-metric effects in Lamb-shift transitions of Hydrogenic atoms and in anomalous magnetic moments of massive leptons. We discuss how current experiments already set bounds on the violation of the equivalence principle in this sector and how new (high-precision) measurements of these quantities could provide further information to this end.
It is shown that the gravitational ultrarelativistic spin-orbit interaction violates the weak equivalence principle in the traditional sense. This fact is a direct consequence of the Mathisson-Papapetrou equations in the frame of reference comoving with a spinning test particle. The widely held assumption that the deviation of a spinning test body from a geodesic trajectory is caused by tidal forces is not correct
The equivalence principle can be tested by precision experiments based on classical and quantum systems, on the ground as well as in space. In many models, these tests are mostly equivalent in their ability to constrain physics beyond the Standard Model. We mention differences that nevertheless exist between spaceborne and quantum mechanical tests and their conventional competitors.
The present work analyzes the meaning of the Weak Equivalence Principle in the context of quantum mechanics. A quantal definition for this principle is introduced. This definition does not require the concept of trajectory and relies upon the phase shift induced by a gravitational field in the context of a quantum interference experiment of two coherent beams of particles. In other words, it resorts to wave properties of the system and not to classical concepts as the idea of trajectory.
For a given space-time and for an arbitrary time-like geodesic, we analyze the conditions for the construction of Fermi coordinates so that they are also rigid covariant. We then apply these conditions to linear plane gravitational waves.