English

Two Theorems on Flat Space-Time Gravitational Theories

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2015-06-05 v1

Abstract

The first theorem states that all flat space-time gravitational theories must have a Lagrangian with a first term that is an homogeneous (degree-I) function of the 4-velocity uiu^i, plus a functional of ηijuiuj\eta_{ij}u^i u^j. The second theorem states that all gravitational theories that satisfy the strong equivalence principle have a Lagrangian with a first term gij(x)uiujg_{ij}(x)u^i u^j plus an irrelevant term. In both cases the theories must issue from a unique variational principle. Therefore, under this condition it is impossible to find a flat space-time theory that satisfies the strong equivalence principle.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1206.5341,
  title  = {Two Theorems on Flat Space-Time Gravitational Theories},
  author = {Mario Castagnino and Luis Chimento},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1206.5341},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

11 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T21:24:17.528Z