The Dirac-Bergmann algorithm is a recipe for converting a theory with a singular Lagrangian into a constrained Hamiltonian system. Constrained Hamiltonian systems include gauge theories -- general relativity, electromagnetism, Yang Mills, string theory, etc. The Dirac-Bergmann algorithm is elegant but at the same time rather complicated. It consists of a large number of logical steps linked together by a subtle chain of reasoning. Examples of the Dirac-Bergmann algorithm found in the literature are designed to isolate and illustrate just one or two of those logical steps. In this paper I analyze a finite-dimensional system that exhibits all of the major steps in the algorithm. The system includes primary and secondary constraints, first and second class constraints, restrictions on Lagrange multipliers, and both physical and gauge degrees of freedom. This relatively simple system provides a platform for discussing the Dirac conjecture, constructing Dirac brackets, and applying gauge conditions.
There is a review of the main mathematical properties of system described by singular Lagrangians and requiring Dirac-Bergmann theory of constraints at the Hamiltonian level. The following aspects are discussed: i) the connection of the rank and eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix in the Euler-Lagrange equations with the chains of first and second class constraints; ii) the connection of the Noether identities of the second Noether theorem with the Hamiltonian constraints; iii) the Shanmugadhasan canonical transformation for the identification of the gauge variables and for the search of the Dir…
Peter Bergmann was a co-inventor of the algorithm for converting singular Lagrangian models into a constrained Hamiltonian dynamical formalism. This talk focuses on the work of Bergmann and his collaborators in the period from 1949 to 1951.
Cosmological Perturbation in New General Relativity: Propagating mode from the violation of local Lorentz invariance
Central China Normal University（华中师范大学）；The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)（高能加速器研究机构（KEK））；Nagoya University（名古屋大学）
The problem of observables and their supposed lack of change has been significant in Hamiltonian quantum gravity since the 1950s. This paper considers the unrecognized variety of ideas about observables in the thought of Peter Bergmann, who invented observables. Whereas initially he required a constrained Hamiltonian formalism to be mathematically equivalent to the Lagrangian, in 1953 Bergmann and Schiller introduced a novel postulate, motivated by facilitating quantum gravity: observables were _invariant_ under transformations generated by _each individual_ first-class constraint. While moder…
A general affine connection has enough degrees of freedom to describe the classical gravitational and electromagnetic fields in the metric-affine formulation of gravity. The gravitational field is represented in the Lagrangian by the symmetric part of the Ricci tensor and the classical electromagnetic field can be represented by the tensor of homothetic curvature. The simplest metric-affine Lagrangian that depends on the tensor of homothetic curvature generates the Einstein-Maxwell equations for a massless vector. Metric-affine Lagrangians with matter fields depending on the connection are sub…
In this paper a hidden extra symmetry of conformally invariant Lagrangians occuring in physics is pointed out. This symmetry is most apparent in a metric independent, i.e. in a Palatini-like presentation of the variational problem. In such presentation, the usual conformal weight of fields can be encoded as local dilatation group gauge charges. The conventional conformal invariance of Lagrangians is then equivalent to dilatation gauge invariance. The claim of the paper is, that the most commonly occurring conformally invariant Lagrangians turning up in physics are not only invariant to local d…
We explore the implications of the requirement of Galilean invariance for classical point particle lagrangians, in which the space is not assumed to be flat to begin with. We show that for the free, time-independent lagrangian, this requirement is equivalent to the existence of gradient Killing vectors on space, which is in turn equivalent to the condition that the space is a direct product, which is totally flat in the Galilean invariant direction. We then consider more general cases and see that there is no simple generalisation to these cases.
We review and compare different variational formulations for the Schrödinger field. Some of them rely on the addition of a conveniently chosen total time derivative to the hermitic Lagrangian. Alternatively, the Dirac-Bergmann algorithm yields the Schrödinger equation first as a consistency condition in the full phase space, second as canonical equation in the reduced phase space. The two methods lead to the same (reduced) Hamiltonian. As a third possibility, the Faddeev-Jackiw method is shown to be a shortcut of the Dirac method. By implementing the quantization scheme for systems with second…
The most general theory of gravity in d-dimensions which leads to second order field equations for the metric has [(d-1)/2] free parameters. It is shown that requiring the theory to have the maximum possible number of degrees of freedom, fixes these parameters in terms of the gravitational and the cosmological constants. In odd dimensions, the Lagrangian is a Chern-Simons form for the (A)dS or Poincare groups. In even dimensions, the action has a Born-Infeld-like form. Torsion may occur explicitly in the Lagrangian in the parity-odd sector and the torsional pieces respect local (A)dS symmetry …
The Hamiltonian formulation of conformally invariant Weyl-squared higher derivative theory teaches us that conformal symmetry is expressed through particular first class constraints related to the absence of the three-metric determinant and the trace of the extrinsic curvature from the theory. Any term depending on them which is added to this theory breaks conformal invariance and turns these constraints into second class ones. Such second class constraints are missing in the standard canonical formulation of the conformally non-invariant Einstein-Hilbert theory. It is demonstrated that such c…
Conformal transformations of the following kinds are compared: (1) conformal coordinate transformations, (2) conformal transformations of Lagrangian models for a D-dimensional geometry, given by a Riemannian manifold M with metric g of arbitrary signature, and (3) conformal transformations of (mini-)superspace geometry. For conformal invariance under this transformations the following applications are given respectively: (1) Natural time gauges for multidimensional geometry, (2) conformally equivalent Lagrangian models for geometry coupled to a spacially homogeneous scalar field, and (3) the c…
We show that in theories of generalised teleparallel gravity, whose Lagrangians are algebraic functions of the usual teleparallel Lagrangian, the action and the field equations are not invariant under local Lorentz transformations. We also argue that these theories appear to have extra degrees of freedom with respect to general relativity. The usual teleparallel Lagrangian, which has been extensively studied and leads to a theory dynamically equivalent to general relativity, is an exception. Both of these facts appear to have been overlooked in the recent literature on f(T) gravity, but are cr…
The most general Lagrangian for non-linear electrodynamics coupled to an axion $a$ and a dilaton $ϕ$ with $SL(2,\mbox{\elevenmsb R})$ invariant equations of motion is $$ -\half\left(\nablaϕ\right)^2 - \half e^{2ϕ}\left(\nabla a\right)^2 + \fraction{1}{4}aF_{μν}\star F^{μν} + L_{\rm inv}(g_{μν},e^{-\frac{1}{2}ϕ}F_{ρσ}) $$ where $L_{\rm inv}(g_{μν},F_{ρσ})$ is a Lagrangian whose equations of motion are invariant under electric-magnetic duality rotations. In particular there is a unique generalization of Born-Infeld theory admitting $SL(2,\mbox{\elevenmsb R})$ invariant equations of motion.
Leon Rosenfeld published in 1930 the first systematic Hamiltonian approach to Lagrangian models that possess a local gauge symmetry. The application of this formalism to theories with local internal symmetries, such as electromagnetism in interaction with charged matter fields, is valid and complete, and predates by two decades the work by Dirac and Bergmann. Although he provided a group-theoretical justification for gauge fixing procedures that had just been implemented in the first expositions of quantum electrodynamics by Heisenberg and Pauli, and also by Fermi, his contribution went largel…
There has been a recent interest in considering Quantum Field Theories in which Lorentz Invariance is broken in the UV sector. However attention has been mostly limited to dispersive theories. In this work we provide the generalized settings for studying dissipation. Unitarity is preserved by coupling the original fields to additional (heavy) fields which induce the dissipation. Starting with Lagrangians breaking LI in the UV, we learn that dissipative effects unavoidably develop in the effective theory. We then covariantize these Lagrangians in order to address the trans-Planckian question of…
Signed Coordinate Invariance, invariant lagrangians and manifolds, the time problem in quantum cosmology, quantum space time, spacetimes and antispacetimes
In (3+1) Hamiltonian form, the conditions for the electric/magnetic invariance of generic self-interacting gauge vector actions and the definition of the duality generator are obvious. Instead, (3+1) actions are not intrinsically Lorentz invariant. Imposing the Dirac-Schwinger stress tensor commutator requirement to enforce the latter yields a differential constraint on the Hamiltonian which translates into the usual Lagrangian form of the duality invariance condition obeyed by Maxwell and Born-Infeld theories. We also discuss covariance properties of some analogous scalar models.
We revisit the problem of constraining the weak field limit of the gravitational lagrangian from S-matrix properties. From unitarity and Lorentz invariance of the S-matrix of massless gravitons, we derive on-shell gauge invariance to consist on the transverse part of the linearised diffeomorphisms group. Moreover, by looking to the interaction between sources, we conclude that there exist only two possible lagrangians that lead to a well-defined covariant interaction, corresponding to the weak field limits of General Relativity and Unimodular Gravity. Additionally, this result confirms the equ…
We investigate in 4 spacetime dimensions, all the consistent deformations of the lagrangian ${\cal L}_2+{\cal L}_{3/2}$, which is the sum of the Pauli-Fierz lagrangian ${\cal L}_2$ for a free massless spin 2 field and the Rarita-Schwinger lagrangian ${\cal L}_{3/2}$ for a free massless spin 3/2 field. Using BRST cohomogical techniques, we show, under the assumptions of locality, Poincaré invariance, conservation of the number of gauge symmetries and the number of derivatives on each fields, that N=1 D=4 supergravity is the only consistent interaction between a massless spin 2 and a massless sp…
We derive the second variation Lagrangian of the Randall-Sundrum model with two branes, study its gauge invariance and diagonalize it in the unitary gauge. We also show that the effective four-dimensional theory looks different on different branes and calculate the observable mass spectra and the couplings of the physical degrees of freedom of 5-dimensional gravity to matter.
Gauge invariance of scalar perturbations is studied together with the associated equations of motion. Extending methods developed in the framework of hamiltonian General Relativity, the Hamilton-Jacobi equation is investigated into the details in Loop Quantum Cosmology. The gauge-invariant observables are built and their equations of motions are reviewed both in Hamiltonian and Lagrangian approaches. This method is applied to scalar perturbations with either holonomy or inverse-volume corrections.
We develop a gauge theory of the combined gravitational-electromagnetic field by expanding the Poincaré group to include clock synchronization transformations. We show that the electromagnetic field can be interpreted as a local gauge theory of the synchrony group. According to this interpretation, the electromagnetic field equations possess nonlinear terms and electromagnetic gauge transformations acquire a space-time interpretation as local synchrony transformations. The free Lagrangian for the fields leads to the usual Einstein-Maxwell field equations with additional gravitational-electroma…
Scale invariant fluctuations of metric are universal feature of quantum gravity in de Sitter spacetime. We construct an effective Lagrangian which summarizes their implications on local physics by integrating super-horizon metric fluctuations. It shows infrared quantum effects are local and render fundamental couplings time dependent. We impose Lorenz invariance on the effective Lagrangian as it is required by the principle of general covariance. We show that such a requirement leads to unique physical predictions by fixing the quantization ambiguities. We explain how the gauge parameter depen…
We construct the consistent ghost-free covariant scalar-vector-tensor gravity theories with second order equations of motion with derivative interactions. We impose locality, unitarity, Lorentz invariance and pseudo-Riemannian geometry as the fundamental terms. In the tensor sector we require diffeomorphism invariance, whereas we allow the vector sector to be gauge invariant or not. The resulting Lagrangians consist of new genuine couplings among these fields with at most two derivatives per field. They propagate five physical degrees of freedom in the gauge invariant case and six degrees of f…
A quantum physical projector is proposed for generally covariant theories which are derivable from a Lagrangian. The projector is the quantum analogue of the integral over the generators of finite one-parameter subgroups of the gauge symmetry transformations which are connected to the identity. Gauge variables are retained in this formalism, thus permitting the construction of spacetime area and volume operators in a tentative spacetime loop formulation of quantum general relativity.
The Poincare Gauge Theory of gravitation with a Lagrangian quadratic in the field strengths is applied to a classical cosmological model. It predicts a constant value of the non-riemannian curvature scalar, which acts as a cosmological constant. As the value of the scalar depends on the context, vacuum solutions may differ from the predictions based on Einstein's constant. The corresponding deviations from General Relativity are discussed on the basis of exact solutions for the field of a mass point.
A novel Dirac Hamiltonian formulation of the first order Einstein-Hilbert (EH) action, in which algebraic constraints are not solved to eliminate fields from the action at the Lagrangian level, has been shown to lead to an action and a constraint structure apparently distinct from the ADM action and the ADM constraint structure in that secondary first class constraints as well as tertiary first class constraints arise with an unusual Poisson Bracket (PB) algebra [24]. By canonical transformations of the fundamental fields we show how from the tertiary constraints one may derive the Hamiltonian…
We investigate the conformal invariant Lagrangian of the self-gravitating U(1) scalar-gauge field and find new features of the model on the time-dependent axially symmetric Bondi-Marder spacetime. By considering the conformal symmetry as exact at the level of the Lagrangian and broken in the vacuum, a consistent model is found with an exact solution of the vacuum Bondi-Marder spacetime $g_{μν}=ω^2 \bar g_{μν}$, where $ω$ is the conformal factor and $\bar g_{μν}$ the `un-physical` spacetime. If we try to match this vacuum solution onto the interior vortex solution of the coupled Einstein-scalar…
