We investigate the Holst action for closed Riemannian 4-manifolds with orthogonal connections. For connections whose torsion has zero Cartan type component we show that the Holst action can be recovered from the heat asymptotics for the natural Dirac operator acting on left-handed spinor fields.
We show that the Palatini--Cartan--Holst formulation of General Relativity in tetrad variables must be complemented with additional requirements on the fields when boundaries are taken into account for the associated BV theory to induce a compatible BFV theory on the boundary.
We give a detailed account of the Hamiltonian GNH analysis of the parametrized unimodular extension of the Holst action. The purpose of the paper is to derive, through the clear geometric picture furnished by the GNH method, a simple Hamiltonian formulation for this model and explain why it is difficult to arrive at it in other approaches. We will also show how to take advantage of the field equations to anticipate the simple form of the constraints that we find in the paper.
We work on a spacetime manifold foliated by timelike leaves. In this setting, we explore the solution of the second-class constraints arising during the canonical analysis of the Holst action with a cosmological constant. The solution is given in a manifestly Lorentz-covariant fashion, and the resulting canonical formulation is expressed using several sets of real variables that are related to one another by canonical transformations. By applying a gauge fixing to this formulation, we obtain a description of gravity as an $SU(1,1)$ gauge theory that resembles the Ashtekar-Barbero formulation.
We report three manifestly Lorentz-invariant Hamiltonian formulations of minimally and nonminimally coupled fermion fields to the Holst action. These formulations are achieved by making a suitable parametrization of both the tetrad and the Lorentz connection, which allows us to integrate out some auxiliary fields without spoiling the local Lorentz symmetry. They have the peculiarity that their noncanonical symplectic structures as well as the phase-space variables for the gravitational sector are real. Moreover, two of these Hamiltonian formulations involve half-densitized fermion fields. We a…
In this paper we revisit the nonmanifestly Lorentz-covariant canonical analysis of the Holst action with a cosmological constant. We take a viewpoint close to that of F. Cianfrani and G. Montani [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 091301 (2009)] and realize that the solution of the second-class constraints that the authors provide is incomplete, thus not accounting for the correct local dynamics of general relativity. We then mend their approach by adding the missing degrees of freedom to the solution and give a complete description of the resulting theory, which preserves Lorentz invariance but turns out …
We consider orthogonal connections with arbitrary torsion on compact Riemannian manifolds. For the induced Dirac operators, twisted Dirac operators and Dirac operators of Chamseddine-Connes type we compute the spectral action. In addition to the Einstein-Hilbert action and the bosonic part of the Standard Model Lagrangian we find the Holst term from Loop Quantum Gravity, a coupling of the Holst term to the scalar curvature and a prediction for the value of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter.
We study a generalization of the Holst action where we admit nonmetricity and torsion in manifolds with timelike boundaries (both in the metric and tetrad formalism). We prove that its space of solutions is equal to the one of the Palatini action. Therefore, we conclude that the metric sector is in fact identical to GR, which is defined by the Einstein-Hilbert action. We further prove that, despite defining the same space of solutions, the Palatini and (the generalized) Holst Lagrangians are not cohomologically equal. Thus, the presymplectic structure and charges provided by the Covariant Phas…
We perform the canonical analysis of the Holst action for general relativity with a cosmological constant without introducing second-class constraints. Our approach consists in identifying the dynamical and nondynamical parts of the involved variables from the very outset. After integrating out the nondynamical variables associated with the connection, we obtain the description of phase space in terms of manifestly $SO(3,1)$ [or $SO(4)$, depending on the signature] covariant canonical variables and first-class constraints only. We impose the time gauge on them and show that the Ashtekar-Barber…
We study a parity violating Metric-Affine gravitational theory given by the Einstein-Hilbert action plus the so-called Holst term in vacuum. We find out that for a certain value of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter the total action possesses a remarkable invariance under particular transformations of the affine connection. We prove that in all cases, with appropriate gauge choices, the connection reduces to the Levi-Civita one and that the theory turns out to be equivalent to general relativity in vacuum. Subsequently, we generalize our discussion and analyze the case of Metric-Affine $f(R)$ gravi…
Generalized differential forms are employed to construct generalized connections. Lorentzian four-metrics determined by certain of these connections satisfy Einstein's vacuum field equations when the connections are flat. Generalized Chern-Simons action principles with Einstein's equations as Euler-Lagrange equations are constructed by using these connections.
In the present work, we propose an Action Principle for Action-dependent Lagrangians by generalizing the Herglotz variational problem for several independent variables. This Action Principle enables us to formulate Lagrangian densities for non-conservative fields. In special, from a Lagrangian depending linearly on the Action, we obtain a generalized Einstein's field equations for a non-conservative gravity and analyze some consequences of their solutions to cosmology and gravitational waves. We show that the non-conservative part of the field equations depends on a constant cosmological four-…
In this work, we propose an Action Principle for Action-dependent Lagrangian functions by generalizing the Herglotz variational problem to the case with several independent variables. We obtain a necessary condition for the extremum equivalent to the Euler-Lagrange equation and, through some examples, we show that this generalized Action Principle enables us to construct simple and physically meaningful Action-dependent Lagrangian functions for a wide range of non-conservative classical and quantum systems. Furthermore, when the dependence on the Action is removed, the traditional Action Princ…
The classical relativistic least action principle is revisited from the vacuum field theory approach. New physically motivated versions of relativistic Lorentz type forces are derived, a new relativistic hadronic string model is proposed and analyzed in detail.
Many Lagrangians of physical theories can be expressed as eigenvalues of certain, relatively simple, matrices involving Dirac gamma matrices. We give concrete examples for Lagrangian corresponding to a point particle coupled to electromagnetic field, electrodynamics, nonabelian gauge theories, extended objects and gravity. We also discuss (in case of a point particle) what are the implications of the least action principle applied to matrix Lagrangians.
We consider compact Riemannian spin manifolds without boundary equipped with orthogonal connections. We investigate the induced Dirac operators and the associated commutative spectral triples. In case of dimension four and totally anti-symmetric torsion we compute the Chamseddine-Connes spectral action, deduce the equations of motions and discuss critical points.
A variational principle is introduced which minimizes an action formulated for configurations of vacuum Dirac seas. The action is analyzed in position and momentum space. We relate the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations to the notion of state stability. Examples of numerical minimizers are constructed and discussed.
The least action principle, through its variational formulation, possesses a finalist aspect. It explicitly appears in the fractional calculus framework, where Euler-Lagrange equations obtained so far violate the causality principle. In order to clarify the relation between those two principles, we firstly remark that the derivatives used to described causal physical phenomena are in fact left ones. This leads to a formal approach of irreversible dynamics, where forward and backward temporal evolutions are decoupled. This formalism is then integrated to the Lagrangian systems, through a partic…
Using the formalism of superconnections, we show the existence of a bosonic action functional for the standard K-cycle in noncommutative geometry, giving rise, through the spectral action principle, only to the Einstein gravity and Standard Model Yang-Mills-Higgs terms. It provides an effective nonminimal coupling in the bosonic sector of the Lagrangian.
In this manuscript we show that the metric mean dimension of a free semigroup action satisfies three variational principles: (a) the first one is based on a definition of Shapira's entropy, introduced in \cite{SH} for a singles dynamics and extended for a semigroup action in this note; (b) the second one treats about a definition of Katok's entropy for a free semigroup action introduced in \cite{CRV-IV}; (c) lastly we consider the local entropy function for a free semigroup action and show that the metric mean dimension satisfies a variational principle in terms of such function. Our results a…
We consider the problem of constructing an action functional for physical systems whose classical equations of motion cannot be directly identified with Euler-Lagrange equations for an action principle. Two ways of action principle construction are presented. From simple consideration, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a multiplier matrix which can endow a prescribed set of second-order differential equations with the structure of Euler-Lagrange equations. An explicit form of the action is constructed in case if such a multiplier exists. If a given set of diffe…
For an integrable shallow water equation we describe a geometrical approach showing that any two nearby fluid configurations are successive states of a unique flow minimizing the kinetic energy.
In this paper, we show that the difficulties of interpretation of the principle of least action concerning "final causes" or "efficient causes" are due to the existence of two different actions, the "Euler-Lagrange action" (or classical action) and the "Hamilton-Jacobi action". These two actions, which are not clearly differentiated in the texbooks, are solutions to the same Hamilton-Jacobi equation, but with very different initial conditions: smooth conditions for the Hamilton-Jacobi action, singular conditions for the Euler-Lagrange action. There are related by the Minplus Path Integral whic…
We formulate a stochastic least-action principle for solutions of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, which formally reduces to Hamilton's principle for the incompressible Euler solutions in the case of zero viscosity. We use this principle to give a new derivation of a stochastic Kelvin Theorem for the Navier-Stokes equation, recently established by Constantin and Iyer, which shows that this stochastic conservation law arises from particle-relabelling symmetry of the action. We discuss issues of irreversibility, energy dissipation, and the inviscid limit of Navier-Stokes solutions in t…
We introduce an action principle for a class of integer valued cellular automata and obtain Hamiltonian equations of motion. Employing sampling theory, these discrete deterministic equations are invertibly mapped on continuum equations for a set of bandwidth limited harmonic oscillators, which encode the Schrödinger equation. Thus, the linearity of quantum mechanics is related to the action principle of such cellular automata and its conservation laws to discrete ones.