Spin-2 particles and transverse diffeomorphisms

• Grant number: 17/23966-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2018
• End date: July 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Denis Dalmazi
• Grantee: Rafael Robson Lino dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEG). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Guaratinguetá. Guaratinguetá , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the 1970's, after adding mass to the graviton one has verified that the resulting massive gravity (MG) leads to an inconsistent deviation angle for the light beams coming from the stars as they pass close by the sun (gravitational lens), it did not matter how small is the graviton mass, this confronts with the correct prediction by Einstein's general relativity, which is massless. The inclusion of massive graviton self-interaction terms could cure that problem, however it leads, on its turn, to ghosts. Thus, massive gravitons have been abandoned for almost four decades. Notwithstanding, in the last eight years, partially motivated by the accelerated expansion of the universe, new MG theories have been suggested which solve the above mentioned issues. Such theories are built up on the top of the massive spin-2 Fierz-Pauli (FP) model, which dates back to 1939. One naturally asks which physical conclusions of the new MG theories are independent of the underlying massive spin-2 model. In order to derive new alternative massive spin-2 models, we study here the Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction of alternative massless spin-2 models. We start with massless models invariant under transverse diffeomorphisms (TDIFF) and also under Weyl transformations (WTDIFF) which have been suggested as alternatives (unimodular gravity) to Einstein's general relativity. Moreover, after an introduction to the Dirac's Hamiltonian formalism, the student will investigate the canonical structure (constraints and Hamiltonian positivity) of the TDIFF (scalar-tensor) and WTDIFF theories and of its dimensional reductions. He will learn about dimensional reduction and Dirac's constraints formalism in a very active (massive gravity) research area nowadays. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DALMAZI, D.; DOS SANTOS, A. L. R.; LINO DOS SANTOS, R. R.. Higher order self-dual models for spin-3 particles in D=2+1. Physical Review D, v. 98, n. 10, NOV 5 2018. (17/23966-9, 16/09489-0)

DALMAZI, D.; DOS SANTOS, A. L. R.; LINO DOS SANTOS, R. R.. Higher order self-dual models for spin-3 particles in D=2+1. PHYSICAL REVIEW D, v. 98, n. 10, p. 9-pg., 2018-11-05. (16/09489-0, 17/23966-9)