Einstein-Cartan theory is formulated in (1+2)-dimensions using the algebra of exterior differential forms. A Dirac spinor is coupled to gravity and the field equations are obtained by a variational principle. The space-time torsion is found to be given algebraically in terms of the Dirac field. Circularly symmetric, exact solutions that collapse to AdS_3 geometry in the absence of a Dirac spinor are found.
Necessary and sufficient conditions for a space-time to be conformal to an Einstein space-time are interpreted in terms of curvature restrictions for the corresponding Cartan conformal connection.
The gravitational weak field of a global monopole in the Einstein-Cartan theory of gravity is investigated.To obtain this solution we assume that Cartan torsion takes the form of the Newtonian gravitational potential.From the geodesics it is possible to show that the torsionic monopole produces a repulsive gravitational force.
The definition of physical states is the main technical issue of canonical approaches towards Quantum Gravity. In this work, we outline how those states can be found in Einstein-Cartan theory via a continuum limit and they are given by finite dimensional representations of the Lorentz group.
Equations of the conformal theory of gravity with a Dirac scalar field in a Weyl-Cartan space-time have been derived. An exact solution of the equation for a scalar field, which has kind of a decreasing exponential function, has been found. This allows to explain a significant decrease (during of the period of inflation) the energy of physical vacuum (dark energy), which has been identified with the energy of the Dirac scalar field.
In the light of the local Lorentz transformations and the general Noether theorem, a new formulate of the general covariant angular momentum conservation law in Einstein-Cartan gravitation theory is obtained, which overcomes the critical difficulty in the other formulates that the conservation law depended on the coordinative choice.
The thermodynamics is extented to spacetimes with spin-torsion density.Impplications to Einstein-Cartan-de Sitter inflationary phases are discussed.A relation between the spin-torsion density,entropy and temperature is presented.A lower limit for the radius of the Universe may be obtained from the spin-torsion density and the Planck lenght.
Two metric perturbations in Einstein-Cartan cosmology are examined.The first case is the scalar mode perturbation of de Sitter metric in Einstein-Cartan cosmology.In this case small perturbations of de Sitter metric shows that this metric is unstable for a universe with spin-torsion density and dilaton fields.In the second case we show that the Friedmann metric in the same space is also unstable under the small perturbations.
We argue that the non gauge invariant coupling between torsion and the Maxwell or Yang-Mills fields in Einstein-Cartan theory can not be ignored. Arguments based in the existence of normal frames in neighbourhoods, and an approximation to a δ-function, lead to gauge invariant observables.
A global monopole in dilatonic Einstein-Cartan gravity is presented. A linearized solution representing a global monopole interacting with a massless dilaton is found where Cartan torsion does not interact with the monopole Higgs field.Computation of the geodesic equation shows that the monopole-dilaton system generates a repulsive gravitational field.The solution is shown to break the linear approximation for certain values of torsion.
From the freedom exhibited by the generalized Einstein action proposed in [1], we show that we can construct the standard effective Einstein-Cartan action coupled to the fermionic matter without the usual current-current interaction and therefore an effective action which does not depend neither on the Immirzi parameter nor on the torsion. This establishes the equivalence between the Einstein-Cartan theory and the theory of the general relativity minimally coupled to the fermionic matter.
Ghost neutrinos in radiative Kerr spacetime endowed with totally skew-symmetric Cartan contortion is presented. The computations are made by using the Newman-Penrose (NP) calculus. The model discussed here maybe useful in several astrophysical applications specially in black hole astrophysics.
The gravitational fields of vacuumless global and gauge strings have been investigated in the context of Einstein Cartan theory under the weak field assumption of the field equations. It has been shown that global string and gauge string can have only repulsive gravitational effect on a test particle.
Metric perturbations the stability of solution of Einstein-Cartan cosmology (ECC) are given. The first addresses the stability of solutions of Einstein-Cartan (EC) cosmological model against Einstein static universe background. In this solution we show that the metric is stable against first-order perturbations and correspond to acoustic oscillations. The second example deals with the stability of de Sitter metric also against first-order perturbations. Torsion and shear are also computed in these cases. The resultant perturbed anisotropic spacetime with torsion is only de Sitter along one dir…
The Einstein--Cartan Theory (ECT) of gravity is a modification of General Relativity Theory (GRT), allowing space-time to have torsion, in addition to curvature, and relating torsion to the density of intrinsic angular momentum. This modification was put forward in 1922 by Elie Cartan, before the discovery of spin. Cartan was influenced by the work of the Cosserat brothers (1909), who considered besides an (asymmetric) force stress tensor also a moments stress tensor in a suitably generalized continuous medium.
The Ashtekar-Barbero constraints for General Relativity with fermions are derived from the Einstein-Cartan canonical theory rescaling the state functional of the gravity-spinor coupled system by the exponential of the Nieh-Yan functional. A one parameter quantization ambiguity naturally appears and can be associated with the Immirzi parameter.
We investigate the consequences of the ambiguity of minimal coupling procedure for Einstein-Cartan gravity with Holst term and fermions. A new insight is provided into the nature and physical relevance of coupling procedures considered hitherto in the context of Ashtekar-Barbero-Immirzi formalism with fermions. The issue of physical effects of the Immirzi parameter in semi--classical theory is reinvestigated. We argue that the conclusive answer to the question of its measurability will not be possible until the more fundamental problem of nonuniqueness of gravity--induced fermion interaction i…
In the standard Einstein-Cartan theory(EC), matter fields couple to gravitation field through the Minimal Coupling Procedure(MCP), yet leaving the theory an ambiguity: applying MCP to the action or to the equation of motion would lead to different gravitational couplings. We propose a new covariant derivative to remove the ambiguity, then discuss the relation between our proposal and previous treatments on this subject.
Riemannian Killing conserved currents are used to find the energy spectra of classical spinning particles moving around a spinning string in Einstein-Cartan (EC) theory of gravity. It is shown that a continuos spectrum is obtained for planar open orbits the energy shift between the upper and lower bounds obtained for circular planar orbits. A spin-spin effect between the spin of the test particle and the spin of the spinning string contributes to the energy spectrum splitting.
Purely time dependent solutions in four-dimensional Einstein-Cartan-Kalb-Ramond (ECKR) theory of gravity are shown not to be possible leading to a trivial vanishing of all Kalb-Ramond fields. This result seems to contradict previously results obtained by SenGupta et al. (Class. and Quantum Gravity 19(2002)677) where de Sitter spacetime solution is found as an example of opticaly active spacetime. It seems that only inhomogeneous KR fields are possible in four-dimensional torsioned spacetimes.
The Israel junction conditions of a thin shell in the context of Einstein-Cartan gravity are revisited. It is shown that with a choice of the torsion discontinuity taken to be orthogonal to the hypersurface and consistent with the antisymmetric properties of torsion tensor and contorsion tensor, the generalized asymmetric surface energy-momentum tensor turns out to be tangent to the hypersurface while the resulting generalized Israel junction conditions are modified. The main differences to previous works are mentioned.
In this work a static solution of Einstein-Cartan (EC) equations in 2+1 dimensional space-time is given by considering classical spin-1/2 field as external source for torsion of the space-time. Here, the torsion tensor is obtained from metricity condition for the connection and the static spinor field is determined as the solution of Dirac equation in 2+1 spacetime with non-zero cosmological constant and torsion. The torsion itself is considered as a non-dynamical field.
We retreat the well-known Einstein-Cartan theory by slightly modifying the covariant derivative of spinor field by investigating double cover of the Lorentz group. We first write the Lagrangian consisting of the Einstein-Hilbert term, Dirac term and a scalar field term in a non-Riemannian spacetime with curvature and torsion. Then by solving the affine connection analytically we reformulate the theory in the Riemannian spacetime in a self-consistent way. Finally we discuss our results and give future perspectives on the subject.
The stress-energy tensor of a matter shell whose history coincides with a null hypersurface in the Einstein-Cartan gravity is revisited. It is demonstrated that with a proper choice for the torsion discontinuity taken to be orthogonal to the null hypersurface and consistent with the antisymmetric property of torsion tensor, the modified expression for the asymmetric stress-energy tensor is automatically tangent to the hypersurface. The main differences with respect to a previous work are addressed
The role of space-time torsion in general relativity is reviewed in accordance with some recent results on the subject. It is shown that, according to the connection compatibility condition, the usual Riemannian volume element is not appropriate in the presence of torsion. A new volume element is proposed and used in the Lagrangian formulation for Einstein-Cartan theory of gravity. The dynamical equations for the space-time geometry and for matter fields are obtained, and some of their new predictions and features are discussed. In particular, one has that torsion propagates and that gauge fie…
Experimental result regarding the maximum limit of the radius of the electron \sim 10^{-16} cm and a few of the theoretical works suggest that the gravitational mass which is a priori a positive quantity in Newtonian mechanics may become negative in general theory of relativity. It is argued that such a negative gravitational mass and hence negative energy density also can be obtained with a better physical interpretation in the framework of Einstein-Cartan theory.
We study the possible existence of static traversable wormholes without invoking exotic matter in the framework of the Einstein--Cartan theory. A family of exact static, spherically symmetric wormhole solutions with an arbitrary throat radius, with flat or AdS asymptotic behavior, has been obtained with sources in the form of two noninteracting scalar fields with nonzero potentials. Both scalar fields are canonical (that is, satisfy the weak energy condition), one is minimally and the other nonminimally coupled to gravity, and the latter is a source of torsion.
In this paper we study the so called "warp drive" spacetimes within the $U_{4}$ Riemann-Cartan manifolds of Einstein-Cartan theory. Specifically, the role that spin may play with respect to energy condition violation is considered. It turns out that with the addition of spin, the torsion terms in Einstein-Cartan gravity do allow for energy condition respecting warp drives. Limits are derived which minimize the amount of spin required in order to have a weak/null-energy condition respecting system. This is done both for the traditional Alcubierre warp drive as well as for the modified warp driv…
This paper develops a theory of thin shells within the context of the Einstein-Cartan theory by extending the known formalism of general relativity. In order to perform such an extension, we require the general non symmetric stress-energy tensor to be conserved leading, as Cartan pointed out himself, to a strong constraint relating curvature and torsion of spacetime. When we restrict ourselves to the class of space-times satisfying this constraint, we are able to properly describe thin shells and derive the general expression of surface stress-energy tensor both in its four-dimensional and in …
Equations of motion for general gravitational connection and orthonormal coframe from the Einstein-Hilbert type action are derived. Our formulation does not fix coframe to be tangential to spatial section hence Lorentz group is still present as a part of gauge freedom. 3+1 decomposition introduces tangent Minkowski structures hence Hamilton-Dirac approach to dynamics works with Lorentz connection over the spatial section. The second class constraints are analyzed and Dirac bracket is defined. Reduction of the phase space is performed and canonical coordinates are introduced.
We address the implementation of the cosmological principle, that is, the assumption of homogeneity and isotropy in the spatial distribution of matter in the Universe, within the context of Einstein-Cartan theory including minimal couplings of both Dirac and Maxwell fields to torsion. This theory gives rise to new physical effects in environments of high spin densities while leaving the vacuum dynamics unaffected. Our approach is to impose the cosmological principle from the onset to the geometrical degrees of freedom (metric and torsion functions), which constrains the torsion components and …
The Hamiltonian formalism of Einstein--Cartan (EC) gravity is a starting point for canonical quantum gravity. The existing formalisms are at most Lorentz covariant, or diffeomorphism covariant. Here we analyze the Hamiltonian EC gravity in a 5d covariant way, with the gauge group being the de Sitter (dS) group, which unifies the Lorentz transformations and translation in an elegant manner, and also coincides with the acceleration of the universe. We reformulate the EC equations into a dS-covariant form, then find out the dS-covariant constraints of the phase space, and make all the constraint …
It is well known that only the axial piece of the torsion couples minimally to fermions in a Riemann-Cartan geometry, while the other ones decouple. In this paper, we consider the Dirac field minimally coupled to a dynamical background with torsion and compute its contribution to the fermionic one-loop effective action. Such a contribution owns topological nature since it can be linked with topological invariants from Riemann-Cartan spaces, like Nieh-Yan and Chern-Simons terms. Furthermore, we propose a novel modified theory of gravity constructed by adding the aforementioned one-loop contribu…
Gravitational stability of torsion and inflaton field in a four-dimensional spacetime de Sitter solution in scalar-tensor cosmology where Cartan torsion propagates is investigated in detail. Inflaton and torsion evolution equations are derived by making use of a Lagrangean method. Stable and unstable modes for torsion and inflatons are found to be dependent of the background torsion and inflaton fields. Present astrophysical observations favour a stable mode for torsion since this would explain why no relic torsion imprint has been found on the Cosmic Background Radiation in the universe.
Criteria for the existence of de Sitter inflation with dilaton fields in four-dimensional space-times with torsion is discussed.The relation between matter density perturbation and the spin-density perturbation is stablished based on this criteria.From COBE data it is shown that there is a linear relationship between the spin-torsion density and temperature of the Universe for the case where matter density dominates the kinetic part of dilaton fields.
In the present work we investigate wormhole structures and the energy conditions supporting them, in Einstein-Cartan theory ({\sf ECT}). The matter content consists of a Weyssenhoff fluid along with an anisotropic matter which together generalize the anisotropic energy momentum tensor in general relativity ({\sf GR}) to include spin effects. Assuming that the radial pressure and energy density obey a linear equation of state, we introduce exact asymptotically flat and anti-de-Sitter spacetimes that admit traversable wormholes and respect energy conditions. Such wormhole solutions are studied i…
The Raychaudhuri equations for the expansion, shear and vorticity are generalized in a spacetime with torsion for timelike as well as null congruences. These equations are purely geometrical like the original Raychaudhuri equations and could be reduced to them when there is no torsion. Using the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble field equations the effective stress-energy tensor is derived. We also consider an Oppenheimer-Snyder model for the gravitational collapse of dust. It is shown that the null energy condition (NEC) is violated before the density of the collapsing dust reaches the Planck den…
We study cosmological perturbations arising from thermal fluctuations in the big-bounce cosmology in the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity. We show that such perturbations cannot have a scale-invariant spectrum if fermionic matter minimally coupled to the torsion tensor is macroscopically averaged as a spin fluid, but have a scale-invariant spectrum if the Dirac form of the spin tensor of the fermionic matter is used.
Einstein-Cartan theory is an extension of the standard formulation of General Relativity where torsion (the antisymmetric part of the affine connection) is non-vanishing. Just as the space-time metric is sourced by the stress-energy tensor of the matter fields, torsion is sourced via the spin density tensor, whose physical effects become relevant at very high spin densities. In this work we introduce an extension of the Einstein-Cartan-Dirac theory with an electromagnetic (Maxwell) contribution minimally coupled to torsion. This contribution breaks the $U(1)$ gauge symmetry, which is suggested…
We generalize the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations for space-times endowed with a Weyssenhoff like torsion field in the Einstein-Cartan theory. The new set of structure equations clearly show how the presence of torsion affects the geometry of the space-time. We obtain new exact solutions for compact objects with non-null spin surrounded by vacuum, explore their properties and discuss how these solutions should be smoothly matched to an exterior space-time. We study how spin changes the Buchdahl limit for the maximum compactness of stars. Moreover, under rather generic conditions, we prove…
We analyse the kinematics of cosmological spacetimes with nonzero torsion, in the framework of the classical Einstein-Cartan gravity. After a brief introduction to the basic features of spaces with non-vanishing torsion, we consider a family of observers moving along timelike worldlines and focus on their kinematic behaviour. In so doing, we isolate the irreducible variables monitoring the observers' motion and derive their evolution formulae and associated constraint equations. Our aim is to identify the effects of spacetime torsion, and the changes they introduce into the kinematics of the s…
Spin-Polarised cylinders with and without axial magnetic fields are obtained as particular families of solutions of Einstein-Cartan gravity (EC).The first solution represents a spin-polarised cylinder in teleparallel gravity.The second solution is a magnetized solution representing a spin-polarised cylinder where the magnetic fields and spins are distributed along the infinite axis of the cylinder.Altough it seems that the first solution is less realist than the second it could be obtained by shielding the magnetic fields with a superconductor.The second solution is computed by taking into acc…
The definition of the Einstein 3-form G_a is motivated by means of the contracted 2nd Bianchi identity. This definition involves at first the complete curvature 2-form. The 1-form L_a is defined via G_a = L^b \wedge #(o_b \wedge o_a). Here # denotes the Hodge-star, o_a the coframe, and \wedge the exterior product. The L_a is equivalent to the Einstein 3-form and represents a certain contraction of the curvature 2-form. A variational formula of Salgado on quadratic invariants of the L_a 1-form is discussed, generalized, and put into proper perspective.
The effects of non-Riemannian structures in Cosmology have been studied long ago and are still a relevant subject of investigation. In the seventies, it was discovered that singularity avoidance and early accelerated expansion can be induced by torsion in the Einstein-Cartan theory. In this framework, torsion is not dynamical and is completely expressed by means of the spin sources. Thus, in order to study the effects of torsion in the Einstein-Cartan theory, one has to introduce matter with spin. In principle, this can be done in several ways. In this work we consider the cosmological evoluti…
The existence and stability of the Einstein static solution have been built in the Einstein-Cartan gravity. We show that this solution in the presence of perfect fluid with spin density satisfying the Weyssenhoff restriction is cyclically stable around a center equilibrium point. Thus, study of this solution is interesting because it supports non-singular emergent cosmological models in which the early universe oscillates indeterminately about an initial Einstein static solution and is thus past eternal.
In the present work we investigate evolving wormhole configurations described by a constant redshift function in Einstein-Cartan theory ({\sf ECT}). The matter content consists of a Weyssenhoff fluid along with an anisotropic matter which together generalize the anisotropic energy momentum tensor in general relativity ({\sf GR}) in order to include the effects of intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of particles. Using a generalized Friedmann-Robertson-Walker ({\sf FRW}) spacetime, we derive analytical evolving wormhole geometries by assuming a particular equation of state ({\sf EoS}) for energy …
This work derives the elements of classical Einstein Cartan theory (EC) from classical general relativity (GR) in two ways. (I) Derive discrete versions of torsion (translational holonomy) and the spin torsion field equation of EC from one Kerr solution in GR. (II) Derive the field equations of EC as the continuum limit of a distribution of many Kerr masses in classical GR. The convergence computations employ epsilon delta arguments, and are not as rigorous as convergence in Sobolev norm. Inequality constraints needed for convergence restrict the limits from continuing to an infinitesimal leng…
In this work the accelerated-decelerated transition in a primordial Universe is investigated by using the dynamics of fermion fields within the context of Einstein-Cartan theory, where apart from the curvature the space-time is also described by a torsion field. The model analyzed here has only a fermion field as the source of the gravitational field. The term associated with the spin of the fermion field plays the role of the inflaton which contributes to an accelerated regime whereas the one related to the fermion mass behaves as a matter field and is the responsible for a decelerated regime…
The Einstein-Cartan theory of gravitation and the classical theory of defects in an elastic medium are presented and compared. The former is an extension of general relativity and refers to four-dimensional space-time, while we introduce the latter as a description of the equilibrium state of a three-dimensional continuum. Despite these important differences, an analogy is built on their common geometrical foundations, and it is shown that a space-time with curvature and torsion can be considered as a state of a four-dimensional continuum containing defects. This formal analogy is useful for i…
We present a simple proof of the Poincaré gauge invariance of general relativity and Einstein-Cartan theory, in the context of the corresponding bundle of affine frames.
We derive the Schrödinger-Newton equation as the non-relativistic limit of the Einstein-Dirac equations. Our analysis relaxes the assumption of spherical symmetry, made in earlier work in the literature, while deriving this limit. Since the spin of the Dirac field couples naturally to torsion, we generalize our analysis to the Einstein Cartan-Dirac (ECD) equations, again recovering the Schrödinger-Newton equation.
The present paper analyses the Einstein-Cartan theory of gravitation with Elko spinors as sources of curvature and torsion. After minimally coupling the Elko spinors to torsion, the spin angular momentum tensor is derived and its structure is discussed. It shows a much richer structure than the Dirac analogue and hence it is demonstrated that spin one half particles do not necessarily yield only an axial vector torsion component. Moreover, it is argued that the presence of Elko spinors partially solves the problem of minimally coupling Maxwell fields to Einstein-Cartan theory.
