Einstein-Cartan theory is an extension of the standard formulation of General Relativity characterized by a non-vanishing torsion. The latter is sourced by the matter fields via the spin tensor, and its effects are expected to be important at very high spin densities. In this work we analyze in detail the physics of Einstein-Cartan theory with Dirac and Maxwell fields minimally coupled to the spacetime torsion. This breaks the $U(1)$ gauge symmetry, which is suggested by the possibility of a torsion-induced phase transition in the early Universe. The resulting Dirac-like and Maxwell-like equations are non-linear with self-interactions as well as having fermion-boson non-minimal couplings. We discuss several cosmological aspects of this theory, including bounces, acceleration phases and matter-antimatter asymmetry in the torsion era, as well as late-time effects such as the generation of an effective cosmological constant, dark energy, and future bounces within cyclic solutions.
We analyze the dynamics of a homogeneous and isotropic universe in the Einstein--Cartan theory of gravity. The spin of fermions produces spacetime torsion that prevents gravitational singularities and replaces the big bang with a nonsingular big bounce. We show that a closed universe exists only when a particular function of its scale factor and temperature is higher than some threshold value, whereas an open and a flat universes do not have such a restriction. We also show that a bounce of the scale factor is double: as the temperature increases and then decreases, the scale factor decreases,…
We study Kaluza-Klein reduction in Newton-Cartan gravity. In particular we show that dimensional reduction and the nonrelativistic limit commute. The resulting theory contains Galilean electromagnetism and a nonrelativistic scalar. It provides the first example of back-reacted couplings of scalar and vector matter to Newton-Cartan gravity. This back-reaction is interesting as it sources the spatial Ricci curvature, providing an example where nonrelativistic gravity is more than just a Newtonian potential.
A modification of Kaluza-Klein theory is proposed in which, as a result of a symmetry breaking, five-dimensional space-time is partially parallelized implying the appearance of torsion fields. A naturally chosen action functional leads to the Einstein-Cartan-Maxwell theory where the electromagnetic field strength is represented by the fifth component of the torsion 2-form. Incorporation of a scalar field reveals that four-dimensional space-time torsion is not induced by the scalar field.
We consider a generalized Einstein-Cartan theory, in which we add the unique covariant dimension four operators to general relativity that couples fermionic spin current to the torsion tensor (with an arbitrary strength). Since torsion is local and non-dynamical, when integrated out it yields an effective four-fermion interaction of the gravitational strength. We show how to renormalize the theory, in the one-loop perturbative expansion in generally curved space-times, obtaining the first order correction to the 2PI effective action in Schwinger-Keldysh (${\it in-in}$) formalism. We then apply…
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.
We consider the gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric homogeneous matter distribution consisting of a Weyssenhoff fluid in the presence of a negative cosmological constant. Our aim is to investigate the effects of torsion and spin averaged terms on the final outcome of the collapse. For a specific interior spacetime setup, namely the homogeneous and isotropic FLRW metric, we obtain two classes of solutions to the field equations where depending on the relation between spin source parameters, $(i)$ the collapse procedure culminates in a spacetime singularity or $(ii)$ it is replaced…
By replacing the scalar $ϕ$ with $iϕ$ in the solution constructed in Ref\cite{Huang:2019lsl}, we obtain electrically-charged wormhole and black hole solutions in the Einstein-Maxwell-scalar theory, in which the scalar is a phantom field coupled to the Maxwell field non-minimally. Our solutions are simpler than the previously-known charged wormholes in the Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory in that both the scalar and the radius of the foliating sphere of our solutions are independent of electric charge. The wormhole solution has two asymptotically flat regions and reduces to Ellis wormhole when t…
The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity removes the constraint of general relativity that the affine connection be symmetric by regarding its antisymmetric part, the torsion tensor, as a dynamical variable. The minimal coupling between the torsion tensor and Dirac spinors generates a spin-spin interaction which is significant in fermionic matter at extremely high densities. We show that such an interaction averts the unphysical big-bang singularity, replacing it with a cusp-like bounce at a finite minimum scale factor, before which the Universe was contracting. This scenario also e…
We analyze the dynamics of a homogeneous and isotropic universe in the Einstein$--$Cartan theory of gravity. The coupling between the spin and torsion prevents gravitational singularities and replaces the Big Bang with a nonsingular big bounce, at which the universe transitions from contraction to expansion. We show that a closed universe exists only when the product of the scale factor and temperature is higher than a particular threshold, contrary to a flat universe and an open universe, which are not restricted. During inflation, this product must increase to another threshold, so that the …
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 coupling between spin and torsion in the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity generates gravitational repulsion at very high densities, which prevents a singularity in a black hole and may create there a new universe. We show that quantum particle production in such a universe near the last bounce, which represents the Big Bang gives the dynamics that solves the horizon, flatness, and homogeneity problems in cosmology. For a particular range of the particle production coefficient, we obtain a nearly constant Hubble parameter that gives an exponential expansion of the universe wi…
The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity naturally extends general relativity to account for the intrinsic spin of matter. Spacetime torsion, generated by spin of Dirac fields, induces gravitational repulsion in fermionic matter at extremely high densities and prevents the formation of singularities. Accordingly, the big bang is replaced by a bounce that occurred when the energy density $ε\propto gT^4$ was on the order of $n^2/m_\textrm{Pl}^2$ (in natural units), where $n\propto gT^3$ is the fermion number density and $g$ is the number of thermal degrees of freedom. If the early Uni…
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.
We construct a class of Einstein-vector theories where the vector field couples bilinearly to the curvature polynomials of arbitrary order in such a way that only Riemann tensor rather than its derivative enters the equations of motion. The theories can thus be ghost free. The U(1) gauge symmetry may emerge in the vacuum and also in some weak-field limit. We focus on the two-derivative theory and study a variety of applications. We find that in this theory, the energy-momentum tensor of dark matter provides a position-dependent gauge-violating term to the Maxwell field. We also use the vector …
We consider a homogeneous and isotropic Universe, described by the minisuperspace Lagrangian with the scale factor as a generalized coordinate. We show that the energy of a closed Universe is zero. We apply the uncertainty principle to this Lagrangian and propose that the quantum uncertainty of the scale factor causes the primordial fluctuations of the matter density. We use the dynamics of the early Universe in the Einstein$-$Cartan theory of gravity with spin and torsion, which eliminates the big-bang singularity and replaces it with a nonsingular bounce. Quantum particle production in highl…
We study the loop quantum cosmology of a flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker space-time with a Maxwell field. We show that many of the qualitative properties derived for the case of a massless scalar field also hold for a Maxwell field. In particular, the big-bang singularity is replaced by a quantum bounce, and the operator corresponding to the matter energy density is bounded above by the same critical energy density. We also numerically study the evolution of wave functions that are sharply peaked in the low energy regime, and derive effective equations which very closely approximate t…
We study the Weyl vector fields which can play an important role in quantum gravity. The metric obtains its dynamical content after dynamical symmetry breaking in the phase of the effective Einstein gravity which is induced by quantum Weyl corrections. In low energy regime with scalar field there is a relation between the Weyl vector fields and the torsion fields. If this condition is given to Weyl vector fields and torsions, then the Lagrangian becomes like Maxwell type.
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.
It has been known for a long time that the presence of torsion is in conflict with gauge invariance of the the electromagnetic field in curved Riemann-Cartan space if the Maxwell field is minimally coupled to the curved gravitational space through the covariant derivative. In search for a possible solution, we consider in this note the system of Maxwell-Dirac electrodynamics in Riemann-Cartan space. Through investigating consistency of the field equations, and taking cue from the scale invariance properties of the system, we come up with a solution that satisfies gauge invariance without havin…
Exterior Differential Systems (EDS) and Cartan forms, set in the state space of field variables taken together with four space-time variables, are formulated for classical gauge theories of Maxwell and SU(2) Yang-Mills fields minimally coupled to Dirac spinor multiplets. Cartan character tables are calculated, showing whether the EDS, and so the Euler-Lagrange partial differential equations, is well-posed. The first theory, with 22 dimensional state space (10 Maxwell field and potential components and 8 components of a Dirac field), anticipates QED. In the second, non-Abelian, case (30 Yang-Mi…
We present a gauge formulation of the special affine algebra extended to include an antisymmetric tensorial generator belonging to the tensor representation of the special linear group. We then obtain a Maxwell modified metric affine gravity action with a cosmological constant term. We find the field equations of the theory and show that the theory reduces to an Einstein-like equation for metric affine gravity with the source added to the gravity equations with cosmological constant μcontains linear contributions from the new gauge fields. The reduction of the Maxwell metric affine gravity to …
We study massless Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau (DKP) fields in the context of Einstein-Cartan gravitation theory, interacting via minimal coupling procedure. In the case of an identically vanishing torsion (Riemannian space-times) we show that there exists local gauge symmetries which reproduce the usual gauge symmetries for the massless scalar and electromagnetic fields. On the other hand, similarly to what happens with the Maxwell theory, a non-vanishing torsion, in general, breaks the usual U(1) local gauge symmetry of the electromagnetic field or, in a different point of view, impose conditions on…
We consider Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton (EMD) Lagrangian supplemented by double Liouville potentials to enrich our system and investigate the resulting dynamics. The general solution provides us alternative structures induced on the 3-dimensional domain wall (DW) moving in the 4-dimensional bulk. In particular, the local maximum in the potential suggests a maximum bounce (or onset for a contraction phase) of the 3-dimensional Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe on the DW. Depending on the choice of parameters we plot various cases of physical interest.
We consider the Lagrangian density for a free Maxwell field, in which the electromagnetic field tensor minimally couples to the affine connection, in the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity. We derive the formulae for the torsion and electromagnetic field tensors in terms of the electromagnetic potential. The divergence of the magnetic field does not vanish: the photon-torsion coupling acts like an effective magnetic monopole density. Such a coupling, which breaks U(1) gauge invariance, is significant only at extremely high energies existing in the very early Universe or inside bla…
Ten conservation laws in useful polynomial form are derived from a Cartan form and Exterior Differential System (EDS) for the tetrad equations of vacuum relativity. The Noether construction of conservation laws for well posed EDS is introduced first, and an illustration given, deriving 15 conservation laws of the free field Maxwell Equations from symmetries of its EDS. The Maxwell EDS and tetrad gravity EDS have parallel structures, with their numbers of dependent variables, numbers of generating 2-forms and generating 3-forms, and Cartan character tables all in the ratio of 1 to 4. They have …
In this paper we first show that any coupled system consisting of a gravitational plus a free electromagnetic field can be described geometrically in the sense that both Maxwell equations and Einstein equation having as source term the energy-momentum of the electromagnetic field can be derived from a geometrical Lagrangian proportional to the scalar curvature R of a particular kind of Riemann-Cartan spacetime structure, where those fields are identified as geometrical objects of the structure. We show moreover that the contorsion tensor of the particular Riemann-Cartan spacetime structure of …
An integrated approach to Lie derivatives of spinors, spinor connections and the gravitational field is presented, in the context of a previously proposed, partly original formulation of a theory of Einstein-Carta-Maxwell-Dirac fields based on "minimal geometric data": all the needed underlying structure is geometrically constructed from the unique assumption of a complex vector field $S\to M$ with 2-dimensional fibers. The Lie derivatives of objects of all considered types, with respect to a vector field $X:M\to TM$, are well-defined without making any special assumption about $X$, and fulfil…
Spaces with a Weyl-type connection and torsion of a special type induced by the structure of the differentiability conditions in the algebra of complex quaternions are considered. The consistency of these conditions implies the self-duality of curvature. The Maxwell and SL(2, C) Yang-Mills fields associated with the irreducible components of the connection also turn out to be self-dual, so that the corresponding equations are fulfilled on the solutions of the generating system. Using the twistor structure of the latter, its general solution is obtained. The singular locus has a string-like (pa…
In this article we present the algebraic rearrangement, or matrix inversion of the Dirac equation in a curved Riemann-Cartan spacetime with torsion, the presence of non-vanishing torsion is implied by the intrinsic spin-1/2 of the Dirac field. We then demonstrate how the inversion leads to a reformulation of the fully non-linear and self-interactive Einstein-Cartan-Dirac field equations in terms of Dirac bilinears. It has been known for some decades that the Dirac equation for charged fermions interacting with an electromagnetic field can be algebraically inverted, so as to obtain an explicit …
A variant of an earlier proposal by the author and SenGupta, to describe four dimensional Maxwell electrodynamics in Einstein-Cartan spacetimes through a Kalb-Ramond field as an intermediary, is shown to lead to a new Maxwell-Kalb-Ramond coupling that violates spatial parity, even when the KR gauge field has its standard parity assignment. One consequence of this coupling seems to be a modulation, independent of wavelength but dependent on the KR field strength, of the intensity of synchrotron radiation observed from distant galactic sources.
A Spin-polarised cylindrically symmetric exact class of solutions endowed with magnetic fields in Einstein-Cartan-Maxwell gravity is obtained. Application of matching conditions to this interior solution having an exterior as Einstein's vacuum solution shows that for this class of metrics the Riemann-Cartan (RC) rotation vanishes which makes the solution static. Therefore we end up with a magnetized static spin polarised cylinder where the pressure along the symmetry axis is negative.
In the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity, the intrinsic spin of fermionic matter generates spacetime torsion and induces gravitational repulsion at extremely high densities. This repulsion prevents the collapsing spin-fluid matter in a black hole from forming a singularity. Instead, the interior of a black hole with a stiff equation of state becomes a new universe, which contracts until a (big) bounce and then expands. We derive the equations describing the dynamics of our Universe, formed in such a scenario, in terms of the conformal time which is a convenient variable for testi…
We present the exact solution to the linearized Maxwell equations in space-time slightly curved by a gravitational wave. We show that in general, even dealing with a first-order theory in the strength of the gravitational field, the solution can not be written as the sum of the flat space-time one and a weak perturbation due to the external field. Such an impossibility arises when either the frequency of the gravitational wave is too low or too high with respect to the one of the electromagnetic field. We also provide an application of the solution to the case of an electromagnetic field bounc…
An exact solution of Einstein-Cartan-Maxwell (ECM) field equations representing a charged domain wall given by the jump on the electric charge and spin density across the wall is obtained from the Riemannian theory of distributions. The Gauss-Coddazzi equations are used to show that spin, charge and Cartan torsion increases the repulsive character of the domain wall. Taub and Vilenkin walls are discussed as well as their relations to wormhole geometry. The electric and torsion fields are constants at the wall.
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…
In the present work, we revisit the process of gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric homogeneous dust fluid which is known as the Oppenheimer-Snyder (OS) model [1]. We show that such a scenario would not end in a spacetime singularity when the spin degrees of freedom of fermionic particles within the collapsing cloud are taken into account. To this purpose, we take the matter content of the stellar object as a homogeneous Weyssenhoff fluid which is a generalization of perfect fluid in general relativity (GR) to include the spin of matter. Employing the homogeneous and isotropic FLR…
Static solutions representing wormhole configurations in Einstein-Cartan theory ({\sf ECT}) in the presence of electric charge are obtained. The solutions are described by a constant redshift function with matter content consisting of a Weyssenhoff fluid along with an anisotropic matter and energy momentum tensor ({\sf EMT}) of the electric field which together generalize the anisotropic energy momentum tensor in Einstein-Maxwell theory in order to include the effects of the intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of the particles. Assuming the equation of state ({\sf EoS}) $p_r={\sf w}_1ρ$ and $p_t…
This discussion examines recent developments in the theory of a Weyl-like, Cartan geometry with natural Schrödinger field behavior proposed previously. In that model, very nearly exactly a coupled Einstein-Maxwell- Schrödinger, classical field theory emerges from a gauge invariant, purely geometric action based solely on variations of the electromagnetic potentials and the metric. In spite of this, only slight differences appear between the resulting Schrödinger part, and the conventional theory of the Schrödinger field. Close examination of the differences reveals that most are general relati…
We show that it is possible to formulate the classical Einstein-Maxwell-Dirac theory of spinors interacting with the gravitational and electromagnetic fields as the Einstein-Cartan-Kibble-Sciama theory with the Ricci scalar of the traceless torsion, describing gravity, and the torsion trace acting as the electromagnetic potential.
If spacetime torsion couples to the intrinsic spin of matter according to the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity, then the resulting gravitational repulsion at supranuclear densities prevents the formation of singularities in black holes. Consequently, the interior of every black hole becomes a new universe that expands from a nonsingular bounce. We consider gravitational collapse of fermionic spin-fluid matter with the stiff equation of state in a stellar black hole. Such a collapse increases the mass of the matter, which occurs through the Parker-Zel'dovich-Starobinskii quantum …
We propose a simple scenario which explains why our Universe appears spatially flat, homogeneous and isotropic. We use the Einstein-Cartan-Kibble-Sciama (ECKS) theory of gravity which naturally extends general relativity to include the spin of matter. The torsion of spacetime generates gravitational repulsion in the early Universe filled with quarks and leptons, preventing the cosmological singularity: the Universe expands from a state of minimum but finite radius. We show that the dynamics of the closed Universe immediately after this state naturally solves the flatness and horizon problems i…
We present a framework in which the projective symmetry of the Einstein-Hilbert action in metric-affine gravity is used to induce an effective coupling between the Dirac lagrangian and the Maxwell field. The effective $U(1)$ gauge potential arises as the trace of the non-metricity tensor $Q_{μa}{}^a$ and couples in the appropriate way to the Dirac fields to in order to allow for local phase shifts. On shell, the obtained theory is equivalent to Einstein-Cartan-Maxwell theory in presence of Dirac spinors.
Exterior differential systems are given, and their Cartan characters calculated, for Maxwell and SU(2)-Yang-Mills equations in dimensions from three to six.
In the present paper a geometrization of electrodynamics is proposed which makes use of a generalization of Riemannian geometry considered already by Einstein and Cartan in the 20ies. Cartan's differential forms description of a teleparallel space-time with torsion is modified by introducing distortion 1-forms which correspond to the distortion tensor in dislocation theory. Under the condition of teleparallelism, the antisymmetrized part of the distorsion 1-form approximates the electromagnetic field, whereas the antisymmetrized part of torsion contributes to the electromagnetic current. Carta…
Using the chiral representation for spinors we present a particularly transparent way to generate the most general spinor dynamics in a theory where gravity is ruled by the Einstein-Cartan-Holst action. In such theories torsion need not vanish, but it can be re-interpreted as a 4-fermion self-interaction within a torsion-free theory. The self-interaction may or may not break parity invariance, and may contribute positively or negatively to the energy density, depending on the couplings considered. We then examine cosmological models ruled by a spinorial field within this theory. We find that w…
