We investigate the new massive conformal gravity which is not invariant under conformal transformations, in comparison to the massive conformal gravity. We find five polarization modes of gravitational waves propagating on the Minkowski spacetimes. The stability of Minkowski spacetimes is guaranteed if the mass squared is not negative and the linearized Ricci tenor is employed to describe a massive spin-2 graviton. However, the small Schwarzschild black hole is unstable against the $s$-mode massive graviton perturbations.
We extend Maldacena's argument, namely, obtaining Einstein gravity from Conformal Gravity, to six dimensional manifolds. The proof relies on a particular combination of conformal (and topological) invariants, which makes manifest the fact that 6D Conformal Gravity admits an Einstein sector. Then, by taking generalized Neumann boundary conditions, the Conformal Gravity action reduces to the renormalized Einstein-AdS action. These restrictions are implied by the vanishing of the traceless Ricci tensor, which is the defining property of any Einstein spacetime. The equivalence between Conformal an…
We study Weyl symmetry (local conformal symmetry) in unimodular gravity. It is shown that the Noether currents for both Weyl symmetry and global scale symmetry, identically vanish as in the conformally invariant scalar-tensor gravity. We clearly explain why in the class of conformally invariant gravitational theories, the Noether currents vanish by starting with the conformally invariant scalar-tensor gravity. Moreover, we comment on both classical and quantum-mechanical equivalences among Einstein's general relativity, the conformally invariant scalar-tensor gravity and the Weyl-transverse (W…
We compute asymptotic symmetry algebras of conformal gravity. Due to more general boundary conditions allowed in conformal gravity in comparison to those in Einstein gravity, we can classify the corresponding algebras. The highest algebra for non-trivial boundary conditions is five dimensional and it leads to global geon solution with non-vanishing charges.
Constructs from conformal geometry are important in low dimensional gravity models, while in higher dimensions the higher curvature interactions of Lovelock gravity are similarly prominent. Considering conformal invariance in the context of Lovelock gravity leads to natural, higher-curvature generalizations of the Weyl, Schouten, Cotton and Bach tensors, with properties that straightforwardly extend those of their familiar counterparts. As a first application, we introduce a new set of conformally invariant gravity theories in D=4k dimensions, based on the squares of the higher curvature Weyl …
In a recent paper in EPJC March 2016, Faria has shown that quantum massive conformal gravity is renormalizable but has ghost states. We comment this paper on the aspect of renormalizability.
We consider holography of two pp-wave metrics in conformal gravity, their one point functions, and asymptotic symmetries. One of the metrics is a generalization of the standard pp-waves in Einstein gravity to conformal gravity. The holography of this metric shows that within conformal gravity one can have realised solution which has non-vanishing partially massless response (PMR) tensor even for vanishing subleading term in the Fefferman-Graham expansion (i.e. Neumann boundary conditions), and vice-versa.
We investigate the evolution of cosmological perturbations generated during de Sitter inflation in the conformal gravity. Primordial gravitational waves are composed of vector and tensor modes. We obtain the constant vector and tensor power spectra which seems to be correct because the conformal gravity is invariant under conformal transformation like the Maxwell kinetic term.
We generalize the Noether current method proposed by Majhi and Padmanabhan recently to $f(R)$ gravity and conformal gravity and analyze the near horizon symmetry of black holes in these models. It is shown that the entropy obtained with Cardy's formula agrees with Wald entropy.
The leitmotif of this paper is the question of whether four- and higher even-dimensional Conformal Gravities do have a Chern-Simons pedigree. We show that Weyl gravity can be obtained as dimensional reduction of a five-dimensional Chern-Simons action for a suitable (gauged-fixed, tractor-like) five-dimensional AdS connection. The gauge-fixing and dimensional reduction program admits a readily generalization to higher dimensions for the case of certain conformal gravities obtained by contractions of the Weyl tensor.
We consider conformal gravity boundary conditions and outline the highest dimensional non-trivial asymptotic symmetry algebras of conformal gravity. The highest among them is five dimensional and leads to a global geon solution.
The C-metric solution of conformal gravity with a conformally coupled scalar field is presented. The solution belongs to the class of Petrov type D spacetimes and is conformal to the standard AdS C-metric appeared in vacuum Einstein gravity. For all parameter ranges, we identify some of the physically interesting static regions and the corresponding coordinate ranges. The solution may contain a black hole event horizon, an acceleration horizon, either of which may be cut by the conformal infinity or be hidden behind the conformal infinity. Since the model is conformally invariant, we also disc…
The cylindrically-symmetric static vacuum equations of Conformal Gravity are solved for the case of additional boost symmetry along the axis. We present the complete family of solutions which describe the exterior gravitational field of line sources in Conformal Gravity. We also analyze the null geodesics in these spaces.
We study the theory of Weyl conformal gravity with matter degrees of freedom in a conformally invariant interaction. Specifically, we consider a triplet of scalar fields and SO(3) non-abelian gauge fields, i.e. the Georgi-Glashow model conformally coupled to Weyl gravity. We show that the equations of motion admit solutions spontaneously breaking the conformal symmetry and the gauge symmetry, providing a mechanism for supplying a scale in the theory. The vacuum solution corresponds to anti-de-Sitter space-time, while localized soliton solutions correspond to magnetic monopoles in asymptoticall…
The equations of motion of four-dimensional conformal gravity, whose Lagrangian is the square of the Weyl tensor, require that the Bach tensor $E_{μν}= (\nabla^ρ\nabla^σ+ \ft12 R^{ρσ})C_{μρνσ}$ vanishes. Since $E_{μν}$ is zero for any Einstein metric, and any conformal scaling of such a metric, it follows that large classes of solutions in four-dimensional conformal gravity are simply given by metrics that are conformal to Einstein metrics (including Ricci-flat). In fact it becomes more intriguing to find solutions that are {\it not} conformally Einstein. We obtain five new such vacua, which a…
Recently in (Eur. Phys. J. C 76:341, 2016) [arXiv:1604.08706], Myung has suggested that the renormalizability of massive conformal gravity is meaningless unless the massive ghost states of the theory are stable. Here we show that massive conformal gravity can be renormalizable having unstable ghost states.
We study cosmological tensor perturbations generated during de Sitter inflation in the conformal gravity with mass parameter $m^2=2H^2$. It turns out that tensor power spectrum is scale-invariant.
The conformal gravity remarkably boosts our prehension of gravity theories. We find a series of dynamical solutions in the $W^2$-conformal gravity, including generalized Schwarzschild-Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (GSFRW), charged generalized Schwarzschild-Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (CGSFRW), especially rotating Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (RFRW), charged rotating Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (CRFRW), and a dynamical cylindrically symmetric solutions. The RFRW, CRFRW and the dynamical cylindrically symmetric solutions are never found in the Einstein gravity and modified gravities. The GSFRW and CGSF…
We provide a new derivation of the Hawking mass and Willmore energy functionals for asymptotically AdS spacetimes, by embedding Einstein-AdS gravity in Conformal Gravity. By construction, the evaluation of the four-dimensional Conformal Gravity action in a manifold with a conical defect produces a codimension-2 conformal invariant functional $L_Σ$. The energy functionals are then particular cases of $L_Σ$ for Einstein-AdS and pure AdS ambient spaces, respectively. The bulk action is finite for AdS asymptotics and both Hawking mass and Willmore energy are finite as well. The result suggests a g…
We present a new class of solutions for static spherically symmetric wormhole spacetimes in conformal gravity and outline a detailed method for their construction. As an explicit example, we construct a class of traversable and non-traversable wormholes that are locally conformal to Schwarzschild-(anti) de Sitter spacetimes. These wormhole spacetimes are exact vacuum solutions in, but not being limited to, Weyl gravity and conformal scalar-tensor theories. Importantly, the method implies that every conformal theory of gravity with static spherically symmetric solutions will trivially contain w…
Motivated by the analogy proposed by Witten between Chern-Simons and Conformal Field Theories, we explore an alternative way of computing the entropy of a black hole starting from the isolated horizon framework in Loop Quantum Gravity. The consistency of the result opens a window for the interplay between Conformal Field Theory and the description of black holes in Loop Quantum Gravity.
We study the three dimensional Einstein gravity conformally coupled to a scalar field. Solutions of this theory are geometries with vanishing scalar curvature. We consider solutions with a constant scalar field which corresponds to an infinite Newton's constant. There is a class of solutions with possible curvature singularities which asymptotic symmetries are given by two copies of the Virasoro algebra. We argue that the central charge of the corresponding CFT is infinite. Furthermore, we construct a family of Schwarzschild solutions which can be conformally mapped to the Martinez-Zanelli sol…
We study the gravity action built from two gauge fields corresponding to the generators of the conformal group. Starting with the action from which one can obtain Einstein gravity and conformal gravity upon imposing suitable constraints, we keep two independent gauge fields and integrate out the field corresponding to the generator of Lorentz transformations. We identify the two gauge fields with two vierbeins and perturb them around an Anti--de Sitter space. This gives the linearized equations that differ from both, Einstein gravity and conformal gravity linearized equations. We also study th…
Recently, Deser, Jackiw and Pi have shown that three-dimensional conformal gravity with a source given by a conformally coupled scalar field admits pp wave solutions. In this letter, we consider this model with a self-interacting potential preserving the conformal structure. A pp wave geometry is also supported by this system and, we show that this model is equivalent to topologically massive gravity with a cosmological constant whose value is given in terms of the potential strength.
We study static spherically-symmetric solutions of non-Abelian gauge theory coupled to Conformal Gravity. We find solutions for the self-gravitating pure Yang-Mills case as well as monopole-like solutions of the Higgs system. The former are localized enough to have finite mass and approach asymptotically the vacuum geometry of Conformal Gravity, while the latter do not decay fast enough to have analogous properties.
We use the embedding of Einstein gravity with cosmological constant into conformal gravity as a basis for using the twistor action for conformal gravity to obtain MHV scattering amplitudes not just for conformal gravity, but also for Einstein gravity on backgrounds with non-zero cosmological constant. The new formulae for the gravitational MHV amplitude with cosmological constant arise by summing Feynman diagrams using the matrix-tree theorem. We show that this formula is well-defined (i.e., is independent of certain gauge choices) and that it non-trivially reproduces Hodges' formula for the M…
We evaluate the 1-loop partition function of conformal gravity in four dimensions around an $AdS_4$ background, using the heat kernel techniques. We give expressions for the relevant thermodynamical quantities and compare our results with the ones from the literature.
The trace anomaly induced dynamics of the conformal factor is investigated in four-dimensional quantum gravity with torsion. The constraints for the coupling constants of torsion matter interaction are obtained in the infrared stable fixed point of the effective scalar theory.
It is well known that one cannot apply a conformal transformation to $f(T)$ gravity to obtain a minimally coupled scalar field model, and thus no Einstein frame exists for $f(T)$ gravity. Furthermore nonminimally coupled "teleparallel dark energy models" are not conformally equivalent to $f(T)$ gravity. However, it can be shown that $f(T)$ gravity is conformally equivalent to a teleparallel phantom scalar field model with a nonminimal coupling to a boundary term only. In this work, we extend this analysis by considering a recently studied extended class of models, known as $f(T,B)$ gravity, wh…
We analyze the classical stability of Schwarzschild black hole in massive conformal gravity which was recently proposed for another massive gravity model. This model in the Jordan frame is conformally equivalent to the Einstein-Weyl gravity in the Einstein frame. The coupled linearized Einstein equation is decomposed into the traceless and trace equation when one chooses $6m^2φ=δR$. Solving the traceless equation exhibits unstable modes featuring the Gregory-Laflamme $s$-mode instability of five-dimensional black string, while we find no unstable modes when solving the trace equation. It is sh…
Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) can be obtained by modifying the entropic formulation of gravity, this is achieved by considering the quantum statistical nature of the degrees of freedom on the holographic screen. Through this frame work, we find some constraints on a cosmological extension for MOND, with no additional auxiliary fields. The connections between MOND to conformal gravity and Rindler force gravity are examined. These two alternative gravity theories are subsequently considered as possible cosmological extensions of MOND.
We first find the linear approximation of the second plus fourth order derivative massive conformal gravity action. Then we reduce the linearized action to separated second order derivative terms, which allows us to quantize the theory by using the standard first order canonical quantization method. It is shown that quantum massive conformal gravity is renormalizable but has ghost states. A possible decoupling of these ghost states at high energies is discussed.
In this paper we establish the correspondence between ghost-free bimetric theory and a class of higher derivative gravity actions, including conformal gravity and New Massive Gravity. We also characterize the relation between the respective equations of motion and classical solutions. We illustrate that, in this framework, the spin-2 ghost of higher derivative gravity is an artifact of the truncation to a 4-derivative theory. The analysis also gives a relation between the proposed partially massless (PM) bimetric theory and conformal gravity, showing, in particular, the equivalence of their eq…
Asymptotic symmetry of the Euclidean 3D gravity with torsion is described by two independent Virasoro algebras with different central charges. Elements of this boundary conformal structure are combined with Cardy's formula to calculate the black hole entropy.
We study the relation between the (generalized) conformal quantum mechanics of 0-branes and the two-dimensional dilaton gravity. The two-dimensional actions obtained from the supergravity effective actions for the (dilatonic) 0-branes through the compactification on a sphere are related to known two-dimensional dilaton gravity models. The SL(2,R) symmetry of the (generalized) conformal quantum mechanics is realized within such two-dimensional models. The two-dimensional dilatonic gravity model derived from the non-dilatonic 0-brane action is related to the Liouville theory and therefore is con…
Recently in Phys. Rev. D 88, 027504 (2013) Yoon has suggested that there may be problems for the non-relativistic limit of the conformal gravity theory. Here we show that Yoon's results only hold because of the assumption that gravitational sources can be treated the same way that they are treated in standard Newton-Einstein gravity. Since such an assumption violates the theory's underlying conformal invariance,Yoon's conclusions are invalidated.
Quantum gravity that describes the world beyond the Planck scale should be formulated in a background-metric independent manner. Such a background-free nature can be represented as a gauge equivalency under conformal transformations, called the BRST conformal symmetry. In this review, we present quantum field theories of gravity with such symmetry. Since we can choose any background owing to this symmetry as far as it is conformally flat, we here employ the cylindrical background. First, we briefly review the famous BRST Liouville-Virasoro algebra in 2D quantum gravity on $R \times S^1$. We th…
Higher-order curvature corrections involving the conformally-invariant Weyl-squared action have played a role in two recent investigations of four-dimensional gravity; in critical gravity, where it is added to the standard cosmological Einstein-Hilbert action with a coefficient tuned to make the massive ghostlike spin-2 excitations massless, and in a pure Weyl-squared action considered by Maldacena, where the massive spin-2 modes are removed by the imposition of boundary conditions. We exhibit the connections between the two approaches, and we also generalise critical gravity to a wider class …
Cylindrically-symmetric solutions in Conformal Gravity are investigated and several new solutions are presented and discussed. Among them, a family of vacuum solutions, generalizations of the Melvin solution and cosmic strings of the Abelian Higgs model. The Melvin-like solutions have finite energy per unit length, while the string-like solutions do not.
The solutions of the Einstein equation are a subset of the solutions of conformal (Weyl) gravity, but the difference from the action means that the black hole thermodynamics of the two gravity theories would be different. In this paper we explore the thermodynamic phase structure for the conformal gravity in the four-dimensional AdS space-time. Special emphasis is put on the dependence on the parameter $c_1$ in the linear-$r$ term in the metric. The thermodynamic phase structure of the conformal gravity is very rich, including two branches of equations of states, negative thermodynamic volume,…
We investigate the black holes in the new massive conformal gravity which is not invariant under conformal transformations because of the presence of the Einstein-Hilbert term. First, we show that the small Schwarzschild black hole is unstable against the $s$-mode of linearized Ricci tensor by solving the Lichnerowicz-Ricci tensor equation. This instability induces the appearance of the non-BBMB (Bocharova-Bronnikov-Melnikov-Bekenstein) black hole that has both Ricci tensor and conformal scalar hair.
Noncritical Conformal Gravity and Four-Dimensional Liouville Theory
National Taiwan University（台湾大学）；National Center for Theoretical Sciences（国家理论科学中心）；Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (NITEP), Osaka Metropolitan University（大阪公立大学南阳一郎理论与实验物理研究所（NITEP））；Institute of Fundamental Physics and Quantum Technology, Department of Physics, School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University（宁波大学物理科学与技术学院物理学与量子技术基础物理研究所）
The central object in the theory of semiclassical stochastic gravity is the noise kernel which is the symmetric two point correlation function of the stress-energy tensor. Using the corresponding Wightman functions in Minkowski, Einstein and open Einstein spaces, we construct the noise kernels of a conformally coupled scalar field in these spacetimes. From them we show that the noise kernels in conformally-flat spacetimes, including the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes, can be obtained in closed analytic forms by using a combination of conformal and coordindate transformations.
Using Exact Renormalization Group Equation approach and background field method, we investigate the one-loop problem in a six-dimensional conformal gravity theory whose Lagrangian takes the same form as holographic Weyl anomaly of multiple coincident M5-branes. We choose the backgrounds to be the symmetric Einstein spaces including S6, CP3, S2 \times S4, S2 \times CP2, S3 \times S3 and S2 \times S2 \times S2. Evaluating the functional sums gives power-law and logarithmic divergences. We extract from the specific values of logarithmic divergence on above backgrounds, the coefficient in front of…
The Janis-Newman-Winicour metric is a solution of Einstein's gravity minimally coupled to a real massless scalar field. The $γ$-metric is instead a vacuum solution of Einstein's gravity. These spacetimes have no horizon and possess a naked singularity at a finite value of the radial coordinate, where curvature invariants diverge and the spacetimes are geodetically incomplete. In this paper, we reconsider these solutions in the framework of conformal gravity and we show that it is possible to solve the spacetime singularities with a suitable choice of the conformal factor. Now curvature invaria…
We hereby show that the Kasner spacetime turns out to be singularity-free in Einstein's conformal gravity in vacuum or in presence of matter. Such a statement is based on the regularity of the curvature invariants and on the geodesic completion of the spacetime when it is probed by massive, massless, and conformally coupled particles. As a universal feature of the regular metric, nothing can reach the singularity located in t=0 in a finite amount of proper time (for massive particles and conformally coupled particles) or for finite values of the affine parameter (for massless particles).
We study conformal theories of gravity, i.e. those whose action is invariant under the local transformation g_{μν} -> ω^2 (x) g_{μν}. As is well known, in order to obtain Einstein gravity in 4D it is necessary to introduce a scalar compensator with a VEV that spontaneously breaks the conformal invariance and generates the Planck mass. We show that the compactification of extra dimensions in a higher dimensional conformal theory of gravity also yields Einstein gravity in lower dimensions, without the need to introduce the scalar compensator. It is the field associated with the size of the extra…
We discuss conformal issues of pure and extended teleparallel gravity. In particular, we present formulations of conformal transformation in teleparallel gravity. Furthermore, we propose conformal scalar and gauge field theories in teleparallel gravity and study conformal torsion gravity. We explicitly demonstrate that a power-law acceleration (including the $Λ$CDM universe) as well as the de Sitter expansion of the universe can be realized in extended teleparallel gravity with a conformal scalar field, and that pure teleparallel gravity with a conformal scalar field can lead to the $Λ$CDM mod…
We examine the question of scale vs. conformal invariance for the linearized Einstein-Hilbert action, which describes the IR fixed point of quantum gravity. In $D = 4$, although the action is not conformally invariant in the usual sense, we explicitly show that the theory is a conformal field theory at the level of correlation functions. In higher dimensions, we show that the theory is scale but not conformally invariant, but can be embedded into a larger non-unitary conformal field theory, analogous to what has been found for Maxwell theory in $D>4$. We give evidence that similar statements a…
In this work, a correspondence between black hole solutions of conformal and massive theories of gravity is found. It is seen that this correspondence imposes some constraints on parameters of these theories. What is more, a relation between the mass of black holes and the parameters of massive gravity is found. Indeed, the acceptable ranges of massive gravity parameters ($c_{1}$\ and $c_{2}$) are found. It is shown that by considering the positive mass of black holes, some ranges of $c_{1}$\ and $c_{2}$ are acceptable.
On the Renormalization in Conformal Quantum Gravity
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research（俄罗斯联合核研究所）；Tomsk State Pedagogical University（托木斯克国立师范学院）；Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo（圣埃斯皮里图联邦大学）；Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora（儒塞夫联邦大学）
The BRST quantizations of worldsheet gravity corresponding to final more acceptable derivative gauge and the standard conformal gauge are studied. We establish a mapping between these two gauges utilizing FFBRST formulation in standard way. Therefore, we are able to declare that the problems associated with Virasoro constraints are the gauge artifact.
The presence of an unstable massive spin-2 ghost state in the renormalizable theory of massive conformal gravity leads to a pair of complex poles appearing in the first sheet of the energy plane. Here we show that the positions of these poles are gauge dependent, which makes the theory unitary.
We study canonical conformal gravity in four dimensions and construct the gauge generators and the associated charges. Using slightly generalized boundary conditions compared to those in \cite{Grumiller:2013mxa} we find that the charges associated with space-time diffeomorphisms are finite and conserved in time. They are also shown to agree with the Noether charges found in \cite{Grumiller:2013mxa}. However, there exists no charge associated with Weyl transformations. Consequently the asymptotic symmetry algebra is isomorphic to the Lie algebra of the boundary condition preserving diffeomorphi…
We calculate canonical charges in four dimensional conformal gravity using the generalised boundary conditions presented in \cite{Grumiller:2013mxa}. We show that the charges are finite and conserved. The asymptotic symmetry algebras generated by these charges are classified according to the conditions imposed on the first subleading term in the generalised Fefferman-Graham expansion.
We use the duality between color and kinematics to obtain scattering amplitudes in non-minimal conformal N=0,1,2,4 (super)gravity theories. Generic tree amplitudes can be constructed from a double copy between (super-)Yang-Mills theory and a new gauge theory built entirely out of dimension-six operators. The latter theory is marginal in six dimensions and contains modes with a wrong-sign propagator, echoing the behavior of conformal gravity. The dimension-six Lagrangian is uniquely determined by demanding that its scattering amplitudes obey the color-kinematics duality. The conformal gravity a…
Null geodesics are invariant under a conformal transformation, and thus it might seem natural to assume that the observables corresponding to the shadow of a space-time are also conformally invariant. Here, we argue instead, that since the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass and the active gravitational mass of an asymptotically flat space-time are not, in general, invariant under such conformal transformations, the shadow radius for photon motion in a space-time would be quantitatively different, when viewed from two different conformally related frames, although the expression for the shadow radius i…
