Related papers: The trace-free Einstein tensor is not variational …

The problem of observables in classical and quantum gravity is a long-standing one. It is sometimes argued that observable quantities should be diffeomorphsm invariant, following the philosophy of Dirac. We argue that diffeomorphism…

We develop a quantum effective action for scalar-tensor theories of gravity which is both spacetime diffeomorphism invariant and field reparameterisation (frame) invariant beyond the classical approximation. We achieve this by extending the…

Within a framework of noncommutative geometry, we develop an analogue of (pseudo) Riemannian geometry on finite and discrete sets. On a finite set, there is a counterpart of the continuum metric tensor with a simple geometric…

Arguing from his "hole" thought experiment, Einstein became convinced that, in cases in which the energy-momentum-tensor source vanishes in a spacetime hole, a solution to his general relativistic field equation cannot be uniquely…

We develop the theory of left-invariant generalized pseudo-Riemannian metrics on Lie groups. Such a metric accompanied by a choice of left-invariant divergence operator gives rise to a Ricci curvature tensor and we study the corresponding…

The possibility of the extension of spatial diffeomorphisms to a larger family of symmetries in a class of classical field theories is studied. The generator of the additional local symmetry contains a quadratic kinetic term and a potential…

We consider a hybrid bimetric model where, in addition to the ordinary metric tensor that determines geometry, an informational metric is introduced to describe the reference frame of an observer. We note that the local information metric…

In four dimensional unitary scale invariant theories, arguments based on the proof of the a-theorem suggest that the trace of the energy-momentum tensor T vanishes when the momentum is light-like, p^2=0. We show that there exists a local…

In this work, we show that a class of metric-affine gravities can be reduced to a Riemann-Cartan one. The reduction is based on the cancelation of the nonmetricity against the symmetric components of the spin connection. A heuristic proof,…

The question of building a local diff-invariant effective gravitational action for the trace anomaly is reconsidered. General Relativity (GR) combined with the existing action for the trace anomaly is an inconsistent low energy effective…

It is shown that a symmetric massless bosonic higher-spin field can be described by a traceless tensor field with reduced (transverse) gauge invariance. The Hamiltonian analysis of the transverse gauge invariant higher-spin models is used…

Two different sources of emergent gravity lead to the inverse square of length dimension of metric field, $[g_{\mu\nu}]=1/[l]^2$, as distinct from the conventional dimensionless metric, $[g_{\mu\nu}]=1$, for $c = 1$. In both scenarios all…

Here we treat the problem: given a torsion-free connection do its geodesics, as unparametrised curves, coincide with the geodesics of an Einstein metric? We find projective invariants such that the vanishing of these is necessary for the…

The usual derivation of Einstein's field equations from the Einstein--Hilbert action is performed by silently assuming the metric tensor's symmetric character. If this symmetry is not assumed, the result is a new theory, such as Einstein's…

Recent developments in theories of non-Riemannian gravitational interactions are outlined. The question of the motion of a fluid in the presence of torsion and metric gradient fields is approached in terms of the divergence of the Einstein…

We consider the general scalar-tensor gravity without derivative couplings. By rescaling of the metric and reparametrization of the scalar field, the theory can be presented in different conformal frames and parametrizations. In this work…

Gravitational effective field theories with nondynamical backgrounds explicitly break diffeomorphism and local Lorentz invariance. At the same time, to maintain observer independence the action describing these theories is required to be…

I propose an alternative $f(R)$ theory of gravity constructed by applying the function $f$ directly to the Ricci tensor instead of the Ricci scalar. The main goal of this study is to derive the resulting modified Einstein equations for the…

We explicitly compute the spectral metric, torsion and Einstein tensors for a nontrivial spectral triple on a noncommutative torus, with the Dirac operator related to the fully equivariant Dirac by a partial conformal rescaling (as…

We obtain new invariant Einstein metrics on the compact Lie groups $SO(n)$ ($n \geq 7$) which are not naturally reductive. This is achieved by imposing certain symmetry assumptions in the set of all left-invariant metrics on $SO(n)$ and by…