General covariance in quantum gravity at a Lifshitz point

Petr Hořava and Charles M. Melby-Thompson
Phys. Rev. D 82, 064027 – Published 21 September 2010

Abstract

In the minimal formulation of gravity with Lifshitz-type anisotropic scaling, the gauge symmetries of the system are foliation-preserving diffeomorphisms of spacetime. Consequently, compared to general relativity, the spectrum contains an extra scalar graviton polarization. Here we investigate the possibility of extending the gauge group by a local U(1) symmetry to “nonrelativistic general covariance.” This extended gauge symmetry eliminates the scalar graviton, and forces the coupling constant λ in the kinetic term of the minimal formulation to take its relativistic value, λ=1. The resulting theory exhibits anisotropic scaling at short distances, and reproduces many features of general relativity at long distances.

  • Received 16 July 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.82.064027

© 2010 The American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Petr Hořava1,2,3 and Charles M. Melby-Thompson1,2

  • 1Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-7300
  • 2Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720-8162
  • 3Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8568, Japan

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Issue

Vol. 82, Iss. 6 — 15 September 2010

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