In this paper, we try to consider the stability conditions of a modified gravity coupled by Weyl tensor. In this way, we indicate the suitable conditions for a successful bounce while the equation of state (EoS) parameter crosses the phantom divider for our new corrected modified gravity. In the spatially flat Friedmann-Lema\^ıtre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) universe, according to the ordinary version of the holographic dark energy (HDE) model, describing accelerated expansion of the universe, will be considered. Our model's stability conditions and its general properties of attractors for scalar field scripts which control cosmological acceleration will be checked. The statefinder diagnostic parameters of our model will be compared by today's observational data and defined methods. However its EoS parameter will be obtained, too.
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 …
The algebraic study of the Bel-Robinson tensor proposed and initiated in a previous work (Gen. Relativ. Gravit. {\bf 41}, see ref [11]) is achieved. The canonical form of the different algebraic types is obtained in terms of Bel-Robinson eigen-tensors. An algorithmic determination of the Weyl tensor from the Bel-Robinson tensor is presented.
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.
Algebraically special gravitational fields are described using algebraic and differential invariants of the Weyl tensor. A type III invariant is also given and calculated for Robinson-Trautman spaces.
It is well-known that the conformal structure of a relativistic spacetime is of profound physical and conceptual interest. In this note, we consider the analogous structure for Newtonian theories. We show that the Newtonian Weyl tensor is an invariant of this structure.
We present an expression for the Weyl-Weyl two-point function in de Sitter spacetime, based on a recently calculated covariant graviton two-point function with one gauge parameter. We find that the Weyl-Weyl two-point function falls off with distance like r^{-4}, where r is spacelike coordinate separation between the two points.
This brief paper investigates the consequences for the metric tensor of space-time when the Weyl tensor (in its conformally invariant form) and the energy-momentum tensor is specified. It is shown that, unless rather special conditions hold, the metric is uniquely determined up to a constant conformal factor.
The peeling behaviour of the Weyl tensor near null infinity is determined for an asymptotically flat higher dimensional spacetime. The result is qualitatively different from the peeling property in 4d. To leading order, the Weyl tensor is type N. The first subleading term is type II. The next term is algebraically general in 6 or more dimensions but in 5 dimensions another type N term appears before the algebraically general term. The Bondi energy flux is written in terms of "Newman-Penrose" Weyl components.
1+3 covariant approach to cosmological perturbation theory often employs the electric part ($E_{ab}$), the magnetic part ($H_{ab}$) of the Weyl tensor or the shear tensor ($σ_{ab}$) in a phenomenological description of gravitational waves. The Cotton-York tensor is rarely mentioned in connection with gravitational waves in this approach. This tensor acts as a source for the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor which should not be neglected in studies of gravitational waves in the 1+3 formalism. The tensor is only mentioned in connection with studies of 'silent model' but even there the connection …
We have investigated the strong gravitational lensing for the photons coupled to Weyl tensor in a Schwarzschild black hole spacetime. We find that in the four-dimensional black hole spacetime the equation of motion of the photons depends not only on the coupling between photon and Weyl tensor, but also on the polarization direction of the photons. It is quite different from that in the case of the usual photon without coupling to Weyl tensor in which the equation of motion is independent of the polarization of the photon. Moreover, we find that the coupling and the polarization direction modif…
The problem of obtaining an explicit representation for the fourth invariant of geodesic motion (generalized Carter constant) of an arbitrary stationary axisymmetric vacuum spacetime generated from an Ernst Potential is considered. The coupling between the non-local curvature content of the spacetime as encoded in the Weyl tensor, and the existence of a Killing tensor is explored and a constructive, algebraic test for a fourth order Killing tensor suggested. The approach used exploits the variables defined for the Bäckland transformations to clarify the relationship between Weyl curvature, con…
Penrose suggested that issues with the origin of the second law of thermodynamics and the remarkable homogeneous and isotropic nature of the universe on large scales can be resolved with a concept of an entropy for gravitational fields captured by the Weyl curvature tensor. This has led to various proposals for an entropy density for gravity constructed from the Weyl tensor. Most work investigating such entropy densities have been restricted to general relativity and little work has been done to them in modified theories of gravity. To remedy this, we investigate the simplest proposal for an e…
We study the geometrical properties of null congruences generated by an aligned null direction of the Weyl tensor (WAND) in spacetimes of the Weyl and Ricci type N (possibly with a non-vanishing cosmological constant) in an arbitrary dimension. We prove that a type N Ricci tensor and a type III or N Weyl tensor have to be aligned. In such spacetimes, the multiple WAND has to be geodetic. For spacetimes with type N aligned Weyl and Ricci tensors, the canonical form of the optical matrix in the twisting and non-twisting case is derived and the dependence of the Weyl and the Ricci tensors and Ric…
We prove that a Lanczos potential L_abc for the Weyl candidate tensor W_abcd does not generally exist for dimensions higher than four. The technique is simply to assume the existence of such a potential in dimension n, and then check the integrability conditions for the assumed system of differential equations; if the integrability conditions yield another non-trivial differential system for L_abc and W_abcd, then this system's integrability conditions should be checked; and so on. When we find a non-trivial condition involving only W_abcd and its derivatives, then clearly Weyl candidate tenso…
The Weyl tensor is the trace-free part of the Riemann tensor. Therefore, it is independent of the energy-momentum tensor and is thus not linked to the dynamics of gravitational fields. In this paper, we explore its possible thermodynamical property (i.e. its relationship with the black hole entropy). For a Schwarzschild black hole, the Weyl scalar invariant, $C_{μνλρ}C^{μνλρ}$, is proportional to its Bekenstein--Hawking entropy. This observation inspires us to interpret $C_{μνλρ}C^{μνλρ}$ as the entropy density of the gravitational fields of black holes. A dimensional analysis indicates that t…
We obtain vacuum solutions in the presence of a cosmological constant in the context of the Weyl geometrical scalar-tensor theory. We investigate the limit when $ω$ goes to infinity and show by working out the solutions that in this limit there are some cases in which the scalar field tends to a constant (with the implicit consequence of the geometry becoming Riemannian), although the solutions do not reduce to the corresponding Einstein solutions. We have also extended a previous result, known in the literature, by showing that in the case of vacuum with cosmological constant the field equati…
We investigate gauge invariant scalar fluctuations of the metric during inflation in a non-perturbative formalism in the framework of a recently introduced scalar-tensor theory of gravity formulated on a Weyl-Integrable geometry. We found that the Weyl scalar field can play the role of the inflaton field in this theory. As an application we study the case of a power law inflation. In this case the quasi-scale invariance of the spectrum for scalar fluctuations of the metric is achieved for determined values of the $ω$ parameter of the scalar-tensor theory. In our formalism the physical inflaton…
The electric and the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor, as well as the invariants obtained from them, are calculated for the Bondi vacuum metric. One of the invariants vanishes identically and the other only exhibits contributions from terms of the Weyl tensor containing the static part of the field. It is shown that the necessary and sufficient condition for the spacetime to be purely electric is that such spacetime be static. It is also shown that the vanishing of the electric part implies Minkowski spacetime. Unlike the electric part, the magnetic part does not contain contributions from the…
We consider modified Weyl gravity where a Dirac spinor field is nonminimally coupled to gravity. It is assumed that such modified gravity is some approximation for the description of quantum gravitational effects related to the gravitating spinor field. It is shown that such a theory contains solutions for a class of metrics which are conformally equivalent to the Hopf metric on the Hopf fibration. For this case, we obtain a full discrete spectrum of the solutions and show that they can be related to the Hopf invariant on the Hopf fibration. The expression for the spin operator in the Hopf coo…
We have studied polarized image of a Schwarzschild black hole with an equatorial thin accretion disk as photon couples to Weyl tensor. The birefringence of photon originating from the coupling affect the black hole shadow, the thin disk pattern and its luminosity distribution. We also analyze the observed polarized intensity in the sky plane. The observed polarized intensity in the bright region is stronger than that in the darker region. The stronger effect of the coupling on the observed polarized vector appears only in the bright region close to black hole. These features in the polarized i…
We analyse strong gravitational field time delay for photons coupled to the Weyl tensor in a Schwarzschild black hole. By making use of the method of strong deflection limit, we find that these time delays between relativistic images are significantly affected by polarization directions of such a coupling. A practical problem about determination of the polarization direction by observations is investigated. It is found that if the first and second relativistic images can be resolved, the measurement of time delay can more effectively improve detectability of the polarization direction.
A black ring is an asymptotically flat vacuum solution of the Einstein equations with an event horizon of topology $S^1\times S^2$. A connection between the black ring entropy and its Weyl tensor $C_{μνλρ}$ is explored by interpreting the Weyl scalar invariant $C_{μνλρ} C^{μνλρ}$ as the entropy density in 5-dimensional space-time. We calculate the proper volume integral of $C_{μνλρ} C^{μνλρ}$ for a neutral black ring and prove that it is proportional to the entropy of a thin black ring. Similar calculations are extended to more general cases: the black string, the black ring with two angular m…
Recently a generalization of the Fefferman-Graham gauge for asymptotically locally AdS spacetimes, called the Weyl-Fefferman-Graham (WFG) gauge, has been proposed. It was shown that the WFG gauge induces a Weyl geometry on the conformal boundary. The Weyl geometry consists of a metric and a Weyl connection. Thus, this is a useful setting for studying dual field theories with background Weyl symmetry. Working in the WFG formalism, we find the generalization of obstruction tensors, which are Weyl-covariant tensors that appear as poles in the Fefferman-Graham expansion of the bulk metric for even…
In this article, we have investigated the equations of motion of the photons coupled to Weyl tensor by the geometric optics approximation and the corresponding shadow in a Brane-World black hole spacetime. It is shown that there exists a double shadow for a black hole since the coupling photons with different polarization directions propagate along different paths in the spacetime. Furthermore, we discuss the effects of the metric parameter $α$ related to the cosmological constant, X-cold dark matter parameter $β$ and the coupling parameter $λ$ on the umbra (the overlap region of the double sh…
In this paper, we analyse the well-posedness of the initial value formulation for particular kinds of geometric scalar-tensor theories of gravity, which are based on a Weyl integrable space-time. We will show that, within a frame-invariant interpretation for the theory, the Cauchy problem in vacuum is well-posed. We will analyse the global in space problem, and, furthermore, we will show that geometric uniqueness holds for the solutions. We make contact with Brans-Dicke theory, and by analysing the similarities with such models, we highlight how some of our results can be translated to this we…
We have studied the shadow of a regular phantom black hole as photons couple to Weyl tensor. We find that the coupling yields that photons with different polarization directions propagate along different paths in the spacetime so that there exits double shadow for a black hole, which is quite different from that in the non-coupling case where only a single shadow emerges. The umbra of black hole increases with the phantom charge and decreases with the coupling strength. The dependence of the penumbra on the phantom charge and the coupling strength is converse to that of the umbra. Combining wi…
Weyl's conformal theory of gravity is an extension of Einstein's theory of general relativity which associates metrics with 1-forms . In the case of locally integrable (closed non-exact) 1-forms the spacetime manifolds are no more simply connected. The Weil connections yield curvature tensors which satisfy the basic properties of Riemann curvature tensors. The Ricci tensors are symmetric, conformally invariant, and the Einstein tensors computed with the Weyl connections implicate a cosmological term replacing the cosmological constant by a function of spacetime, and a shear stress tensor. A to…
In the last few years renewed interest in the 3-tensor potential $L_{abc} $ proposed by Lanczos for the Weyl curvature tensor has not only clarified and corrected Lanczos's original work, but generalised the concept in a number of ways. In this paper we carefully summarise and extend some aspects of these results, and clarify some misunderstandings in the literature. We also clarify some comments in a recent paper by Dolan and Kim; in addition, we correct some internal inconsistencies in their paper and extend their results. The following new results are also presented. The (computer checked) …
We obtain scale-invariant scalar and tensor power spectra from a Weyl-invariant scalar-tensor theory in de Sitter spacetime. This implies that the Weyl-invariance guarantees to implement the scale-invariance of power spectrum in de Sitter spacetime. We establish a deep connection between the Weyl-invariance of the action and scale-invariance of power spectrum in de Sitter spacetime.
The ambition of the present work is to highlight the phenomena of strong gravitational lensing and deflection angle for the photons coupling with Weyl tensor in a Kiselev black hole. Here, we have extended the prior work of Chen and Jing \cite{1} for Schwarzschild black hole to Kiselev black hole. For this purpose, the equation of motion for the photons coupled to Weyl tensor, null geodesic and equation of photon sphere in a Kiselev black hole spacetime have been formulated. It is found that the equation of motion of the photons depends not only on the coupling between photon and Weyl tensor, …
Within $F\left( B^2\right)$ modified Weyl gravity, we consider a model of a spin-$1/2$ electric charge consisting of interior and exterior regions. The interior region is determined by quantum gravitational effects whose approximate description is carried out using Weyl gravity nonminimally coupled to a massless Dirac spinor field. The interior region is embedded in exterior Minkowski spacetime, and the joining surface is a two-dimensional torus. It is shown that mass, electric charge, and spin of the object suggested may be the same as those for a real electron.
The scale invariant Petrov classification of the Weyl tensor is linked to the scale invariant combination of the Kasner index constraints, and the Lifshitz-Khalatnikov Kasner index parametrization scheme turns out to be a natural way of adapting to this symmetry, while hiding the permutation symmetry that is instead made manifest by the Misner parametrization scheme. While not so interesting for the Kasner spacetime by itself, it gives a geometrical meaning to the famous Kasner map transitioning between Kasner epochs and Kasner eras, equivalently bouncing between curvature walls, in the BLK-Mi…
We find the Hamiltonian expression in the York basis of canonical ADM tetrad gravity of the 4-Weyl tensor of the asymptotically Minkowskian space-time. Like for the 4-Riemann tensor we find a radar tensor (whose components are 4-scalars due to the use of radar 4-coordinates), which coincides with the 4-Weyl tensor on-shell on the solutions of Einstein's equations. Then, by using the Hamiltonian null tetrads, we find the Hamiltonian expression of the Weyl scalars of the Newman-Perose approach and of the four eigenvalues of the 4-Weyl tensor. After having introduced the Dirac observables of cano…
We present firstly equation of motion for the photon coupled to Weyl tensor in a Kerr black hole spacetime and then study further the corresponding strong gravitational lensing. We find that black hole rotation makes propagation of the coupled photons more complicated, which brings some new features for physical quantities including the marginally circular photon orbit, the deflection angle, the observational gravitational lensing variables and the time delay between two relativistic images. There is a critical value of the coupling parameter for existence of the marginally circular photon orb…
The algebraic classification of the Weyl tensor in arbitrary dimension n is recovered by means of the principal directions of its "superenergy" tensor. This point of view can be helpful in order to compute the Weyl aligned null directions explicitly, and permits to obtain the algebraic type of the Weyl tensor by computing the principal eigenvalue of rank-2 symmetric future tensors. The algebraic types compatible with states of intrinsic gravitational radiation can then be explored. The underlying ideas are general, so that a classification of arbitrary tensors in general dimension can be achie…
We investigate cosmological models in a recently proposed geometrical theory of gravity, in which the scalar field appears as part of the space-time geometry. We extend the previous theory to include a scalar potential in the action. We solve the vacuum field equations for different choices of the scalar potential and give a detailed analysis of the solutions. We show that in some cases a cosmological scenario is found that seems to suggest the appearance of a geometric phase transition. We build a toy model, in which the accelerated expansion of the early universe is driven by pure geometry.
It is shown that (except for two well defined cases), the necessary and sufficient condition for any spherically symmetric distribution of fluid to leave the state of equilibrium (or quasi-equilibrium), is that the Weyl tensor changes with respect to its value in the state of equilibrium (or quasi-equilibrium).
A set of new tensors of purely geometric origin have been investigated, which form a hierarchy. A tensor of a lower rank plays the role of the potential for the tensor of one rank higher. The tensors have interesting mathematical and physical properties. The highest rank-tensor of the hierarchy, possesses all the geometrical properties of the Weyl tensor.
In this note we wish to complement some recent work in the cosmological literature concerning the Weyl conformal curvature tensor and its parts. In particular, we shall give a clear-cut definition of the Newtonian limits of electric and magnetic parts of the Weyl tensor. We also discuss that only a subset of the relativistic equations is needed to obtain a closed system of equations in the Newtonian limit.
We study null alignment properties of Weyl tensors related via Kaluza$\unicode{x2013}$Klein reduction of vacuum spacetimes by one spatial Killing direction. Kaluza$\unicode{x2013}$Klein reduction is a method that relates spacetimes of different dimensionality. Weyl tensor null alignment is used in a recently proposed generalization of the Petrov algebraic classification of spacetimes to higher dimensions. Concentrating on the case where the two considered null directions are parallel in a gauge where they are perpendicular to the Maxwell potential, we express the relations between Riemann tens…
We give a general expression for the Weyl tensor two-point function in a general Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetime. We work in reduced phase space for the perturbations, i.e., quantize only the dynamical degrees of freedom without adding any gauge-fixing term. The general formula is illustrated by a calculation in slow-roll single-field inflation to first order in the slow-roll parameters $ε$ and $δ$, and the result is shown to have the correct de Sitter limit as $ε, δ\to 0$. Furthermore, it is seen that the Weyl tensor correlation function does not suffer from infrared divergences…
The spacetime Ehlers group, which is a symmetry of the Einstein vacuum field equations for strictly stationary spacetimes, is defined and analyzed in a purely spacetime context (without invoking the projection formalism). In this setting, the Ehlers group finds its natural description within an infinite dimensional group of transformations that maps Lorentz metrics into Lorentz metrics and which may be of independent interest. The Ehlers group is shown to be well defined independently of the causal character of the Killing vector (which may become null on arbitrary regions). We analyze which g…
We derive the evolution equations for the electric and magnetic parts of the Weyl tensor for cold dust from both general relativity and Newtonian gravity. In a locally inertial frame at rest in the fluid frame, the Newtonian equations agree with those of general relativity. We give explicit expressions for the electric and magnetic parts of the Weyl tensor in the Newtonian limit. In general, the magnetic part does not vanish, implying that the Lagrangian evolution of the fluid is not purely local.
We introduce the new algebraic property of Weyl compatibility for symmetric tensors and vectors. It is strictly related to Riemann compatibility, which generalizes the Codazzi condition while preserving much of its geometric implications. In particular it is shown that the existence of a Weyl compatible vector implies the Weyl tensor to be algebraically special, and it is a necessary and sufficient condition for the magnetic part to vanish. Some theorems (Derdzinski and Shen, Hall) are extended to the broader hypothesis of Weyl or Riemann compatibility. Weyl compatibility includes conditions t…
A peeling theorem for the Weyl tensor in higher dimensional Lorentzian manifolds is presented. We obtain it by generalizing a proof from the four dimensional case. We derive a generic behavior, discuss interesting subcases and retrieve the four dimensional result.
In all dimensions and arbitrary signature, we demonstrate the existence of a new local potential -- a double (2,3)-form -- for the Weyl curvature tensor, and more generally for all tensors with the symmetry properties of the Weyl curvature tensor. The classical four-dimensional Lanczos potential for a Weyl tensor -- a double (2,1)-form -- is proven to be a particular case of the new potential: its double dual.
An extension to higher dimensions of the Bel-Debever characterization of the Weyl tensor is considered. This provides algebraic conditions that uniquely determine the multiplicity of a Weyl aligned null direction (WAND), and thus the principal Weyl type, in a frame independent way. The specification of several "subtypes" is also encompassed by the criteria. We further comment on a Cartan-like geometrical interpretation of WANDs in terms of their invariance properties under parallel transport around infinitesimal loops. As a result, restrictions on the algebraic types permitted in spacetimes th…
We discuss the algebraic classification of the Weyl tensor in higher dimensional Lorentzian manifolds. This is done by characterizing algebraically special Weyl tensors by means of the existence of aligned null vectors of various orders of alignment. Further classification is obtained by specifying the alignment type and utilizing the notion of reducibility. For a complete classification it is then necessary to count aligned directions, the dimension of the alignment variety, and the multiplicity of principal directions. The present classification reduces to the classical Petrov classification…
In an interesting recent paper on the growth of inhomogeneity through the effect of gravity [1], Bertschinger and Hamilton derive equations for the electric and magnetic parts of the Weyl tensor for cold dust for both General Relativity and Newtonian theory. Their conclusion is that both in General Relativity and in Newtonian theory, in general the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor does not vanish, implying that the Lagrangian evolution of the fluid is not local. We show here that the `Newtonian' theory discussed by them is in fact not Newtonian theory {\it per se}, but rather a plausible relat…
We investigate the spinor classification of the Weyl tensor in five dimensions due to De Smet. We show that a previously overlooked reality condition reduces the number of possible types in the classification. We classify all vacuum solutions belonging to the most special algebraic type. The connection between this spinor and the tensor classification due to Coley, Milson, Pravda and Pravdová is investigated and the relation between most of the types in each of the classifications is given. We show that the black ring is algebraically general in the spinor classification.
Recent results on purely electric (PE) or magnetic (PM) spacetimes in n dimensions are summarized. These include: Weyl types; diagonalizability; conditions under which direct (or warped) products are PE/PM.
