Special Relativity and Its Newtonian Limit from a Group Theoretical Perspective

In this pedagogical article, we explore a powerful language for describing the notion of spacetime and particle dynamics intrinsic to a given fundamental physical theory, focusing on special relativity and its Newtonian limit. The starting point of the formulation is the representations of the relativity symmetries. Moreover, that seriously furnishes—via the notion of symmetry contractions—a natural way in which one can understand how the Newtonian theory arises as an approximation to Einstein’s theory. We begin with the Poincaré symmetry underlying special relativity and the nature of Minkowski spacetime as a coset representation space of the algebra and the group. Then, we proceed to the parallel for the phase space of a spin zero particle, in relation to which we present the full scheme for its dynamics under the Hamiltonian formulation, illustrating that as essentially the symmetry feature of the phase space geometry. Lastly, the reduction of all that to the Newtonian theory as an approximation with its space-time, phase space, and dynamics under the appropriate relativity symmetry contraction is presented. While all notions involved are well established, the systematic presentation of that story as one coherent picture fills a gap in the literature on the subject matter.

Effects of Quantum Metric Fluctuations on the Cosmological Evolution in Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker Geometries

In this paper, the effects of the quantum metric fluctuations on the background cosmological dynamics of the universe are considered. To describe the quantum effects, the metric is assumed to be given by the sum of a classical component and a fluctuating component of quantum origin . At the classical level, the Einstein gravitational field equations are equivalent to a modified gravity theory, containing a non-minimal coupling between matter and geometry. The gravitational dynamics is determined by the expectation value of the fluctuating quantum correction term, which can be expressed in terms of an arbitrary tensor Kμν. To fix the functional form of the fluctuation tensor, the Newtonian limit of the theory is considered, from which the generalized Poisson equation is derived. The compatibility of the Newtonian limit with the Solar System tests allows us to fix the form of Kμν. Using these observationally consistent forms of Kμν, the generalized Friedmann equations are obtained in the presence of quantum fluctuations of the metric for the case of a flat homogeneous and isotropic geometry. The corresponding cosmological models are analyzed using both analytical and numerical method. One finds that a large variety of cosmological models can be formulated. Depending on the numerical values of the model parameters, both accelerating and decelerating behaviors can be obtained. The obtained results are compared with the standard ΛCDM (Λ Cold Dark Matter) model.

Generalizing the coupling between geometry and matter: $$f\left( R,L_m,T\right) $$ gravity

We generalize and unify the $$f\left( R,T\right) $$ f R , T and $$f\left( R,L_m\right) $$ f R , L m type gravity models by assuming that the gravitational Lagrangian is given by an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar R, of the trace of the energy–momentum tensor T, and of the matter Lagrangian $$L_m$$ L m , so that $$ L_{grav}=f\left( R,L_m,T\right) $$ L grav = f R , L m , T . We obtain the gravitational field equations in the metric formalism, the equations of motion for test particles, and the energy and momentum balance equations, which follow from the covariant divergence of the energy–momentum tensor. Generally, the motion is non-geodesic, and takes place in the presence of an extra force orthogonal to the four-velocity. The Newtonian limit of the equations of motion is also investigated, and the expression of the extra acceleration is obtained for small velocities and weak gravitational fields. The generalized Poisson equation is also obtained in the Newtonian limit, and the Dolgov–Kawasaki instability is also investigated. The cosmological implications of the theory are investigated for a homogeneous, isotropic and flat Universe for two particular choices of the Lagrangian density $$f\left( R,L_m,T\right) $$ f R , L m , T of the gravitational field, with a multiplicative and additive algebraic structure in the matter couplings, respectively, and for two choices of the matter Lagrangian, by using both analytical and numerical methods.

Virial theorem in scalar tensor fourth order gravity

In this paper, we study, in the Newtonian limit, the virial theorem in the context of a scalar tensor fourth order gravity. In particular, we show, that for a isolated galaxy in viral equilibrium, a specific class of scalar tensor fourth order gravity, i.e. $$f(R,\phi )+\omega (\phi )\,\phi _{;\alpha }\,\phi ^{;\alpha }$$ f ( R , ϕ ) + ω ( ϕ ) ϕ ; α ϕ ; α in not suitable to explain the large fraction of dark matter necessary to have the flatness of the galaxies rotation curves experimentally observed.

Higher-order regularity in local and nonlocal quantum gravity

In the present work we investigate the Newtonian limit of higher-derivative gravity theories with more than four derivatives in the action, including the non-analytic logarithmic terms resulting from one-loop quantum corrections. The first part of the paper deals with the occurrence of curvature singularities of the metric in the classical models. It is shown that in the case of local theories, even though the curvature scalars of the metric are regular, invariants involving derivatives of curvatures can still diverge. Indeed, we prove that if the action contains $$2n+6$$ 2 n + 6 derivatives of the metric in both the scalar and the spin-2 sectors, then all the curvature-derivative invariants with at most 2n covariant derivatives of the curvatures are regular, while there exist scalars with $$2n+2$$ 2 n + 2 derivatives that are singular. The regularity of all these invariants can be achieved in some classes of nonlocal gravity theories. In the second part of the paper, we show that the leading logarithmic quantum corrections do not change the regularity of the Newtonian limit. Finally, we also consider the infrared limit of these solutions and verify the universality of the leading quantum correction to the potential in all the theories investigated in the paper.