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We introduce a symmetric Poisson bracket that allows us to describe anticommuting fields on a classical level in the same way as commuting fields, without the use of Grassmann variables. By means of a simple example, we show how the Dirac bracket for the elimination of the second class constraints can be introduced, how the classical Hamiltonian equations can be derived and how quantization can be achieved through a direct correspondence principle. Finally, we show that the semiclassical limit of the corresponding Schroedinger equation leads back to the Hamilton-Jacobi equation of the classical theory. Summarizing, it is shown that the relations between classical and quantum theory are valid for fermionic fields in exactly the same way as in the bosonic case, and that there is no need to introduce anticommuting variables on a classical level., Comment: 9 pages

Starting from the observation that in Yang-Mills theory the Schroedinger state functional in the momentum representation is not gauge invariant, we investigate the reversed question: Which are the representations for the operators of a gauge theory that lead to an invariant wave functional once the quantum constraints have been imposed upon it? Stated otherwise: Which representation do we have to use if we wish the constraints of the theory to eliminate the non-physical degrees of freedom from the states? We use the framework of geometric quantization to attack this question. In particular, it is found that in the linear spin-two theory as well as in General Relativity, gauge invariance cannot be achieved by a pure coordinate (i.e., field) representation, but that one has to use mixed momentum/coordinate representations instead. Our results are illustrated by the example of the free relativistic point-particle as well as by simple cosmological mini-superspace models in the framework of General Relativity., Comment: minor corrections

The Hamiltonian reduction of the massless spin-two field theory is carried out following the Faddeev-Jackiw approach. The reduced Hamiltonian contains only the traceless-transverse fields, but not all of the non-propagating components can be determined by the constraints of the theory. The reason for this is found in the fact that the Hamiltonian is not gauge invariant. Consequences and implications for General Relativity are discussed and illustrated on the example of Robertson-Walker cosmologies with a scalar field. Also, it it shown that for those explicitely solvable models, the reduced form of the dynamics uniquely determines the operator ordering that has to be adopted in the Wheeler-DeWitt equation in order to maintain consistency., Comment: minor changes, refs. added

We apply the Faddeev-Jackiw method to the Hamiltonian analysis of the massless spin-two field. As expected, the reduced Hamiltonian contains only the traceless-transverse tensor, while some, but not all of the non-propagating components are determined by the constraints of the theory. In particular, it is concluded that no gauge choice can be imposed on the fields such that only the propagating modes remain in the theory, meaning that for the spin-2 field there is no direct analogue to the Coulomb gauge of electromagnetism. Implications for General Relativity are discussed., Comment: section added

We present a method for the Hamiltonian formulation of field theories that are based on Lagrangians containing second derivatives. The new feature of our formalism is that all four partial derivatives of the field variables are initially considered as independent fields, in contrast to the conventional Ostrogradski method, where only the velocity is turned into an independent field variable. The consistency of the formalism is demonstrated by simple unconstrained and constrained second order scalar field theories. Its application to General Relativity is briefly outlined., Comment: minor additions

Noether's theorem is reviewed with a particular focus on an intermediate step between global and local gauge and coordinate transformations, namely linear transformations. We rederive the well known result that global symmetry leads to charge conservation (Noether's first theorem), and show that linear symmetry allows for the current to be expressed as a four divergence. Local symmetry leads to identical conservation of the current and allows for the expression of the charge as two dimensional surface integral (Noether's second theorem). In the context of coordinate transformations, an additional step (Poincare symmetry) is of physical interest and leads to the definition of the symmetric Belinfante stress-energy tensor, which is then shown to be identically zero in generally covariant first order theories. The intermediate step of linear symmetry turns out to be important in general relativity when the customary first order Lagrangian is used, which is covariant only under affine transformations. In addition, we derive explicitely the canonical stress-energy tensor in second order theories in its identically conserved form. Finally, we analyze the relations between the generators of local transformations, the corresponding currents and the Hamiltonian constraints., Comment: references updated

Canonical Hamiltonian field theory in curved spacetime is formulated in a manifestly covariant way. Second quantization is achieved invoking a correspondence principle between the Poisson bracket of classical fields and the commutator of the corresponding quantum operators. The Dirac theory is investigated and it is shown that, in contrast to the case of bosonic fields, in curved spacetime, the field momentum does not coincide with the generators of spacetime translations. The reason is traced back to the presence of second class constraints occurring in Dirac theory. Further, it is shown that the modification of the Dirac Lagrangian by a surface term leads to a momentum transfer between the Dirac field and the gravitational background field, resulting in a theory that is free of constraints, but not manifestly hermitian., Comment: final version, to appear in Annals Phys

The detection of gravitational waves based on the geodesic deviation equation is discussed. In particular, it is shown that the only non-vanishing components of the wave field in the conventional traceless-transverse gauge in linearized general relativity do not enter the geodesic deviation equation, and therefore, apparently, no effect is predicted by that equation in that specific gauge. The reason is traced back to the fact that the geodesic deviation equation is written in terms of a coordinate distance, which is not a directly measurable quantity. On the other hand, in the proper Lorentz frame of the detector, the conventional result described in standard textbooks holds., Comment: conclusions changed

It is shown by a straightforward argument that the Hamiltonian generating the time evolution of the Dirac wave function in relativistic quantum mechanics is not hermitian with respect to the covariantly defined inner product whenever the background metric is time dependent. An alternative, hermitian, Hamiltonian is found and is shown to be directly related to the canonical field Hamiltonian used in quantum field theory., Comment: 9 pages, final version, to appear in Class. Quant. Grav

While it is generally accepted, in the framework of Poincare gauge theory, that the Lorentz connection couples minimally to spinor fields, there is no general agreement on the coupling of the translational gauge field to fermions. We will show that the assumption that spinors carry a full Poincare representation leads to inconsistencies, whose origins will be traced back by considering the Poincare group both as the contraction of the de Sitter group, and as a subgroup of the conformal group. As a result, the translational fields do not minimally couple to fermions, and consequently, fermions do not possess an intrinsic momentum., Comment: revtex, 7 pages, minor changes

It is dealt with the question, under which circumstances the canonical Noether stress-energy tensor is equivalent to the gravitational (Hilbert) tensor for general matter fields under the influence of gravity. In the framework of general relativity, the full equivalence is established for matter fields that do not couple to the metric derivatives. Spinor fields are included into our analysis by reformulating general relativity in terms of tetrad fields, and the case of Poincare gauge theory, with an additional, independent Lorentz connection, is also investigated. Special attention is given to the flat limit, focusing on the expressions for the matter field energy (Hamiltonian). The Dirac-Maxwell system is investigated in detail, with special care given to the separation of free (kinetic) and interaction (or potential) energy. Moreover, the stress-energy tensor of the gravitational field itself is briefly discussed., Comment: final version, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys. D

Poincare gauge theories that, in the absence of spinning matter, reduce to the one-parameter teleparallel theory are investigated with respect to their mathematical consistency and experimental viability. It is argued that the theories can be consistently coupled to the known standard model particles. Moreover, we establish the result that in the classical limit, such theories share a large class of solutions with general relativity, containing, among others, the four classical black hole solutions (Schwarzschild, Reisner-Nordstrom, Kerr and Kerr-Newman), as well as the complete class of Friedman-Robertson-Walker cosmological solutions, thereby extending older viability results that were restricted to the correct Newtonian limit and to the existence of the Schwarzschild solution., Comment: 8 pages, revtex4, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

Changing the set of independent variables of Poincare gauge theory and considering, in a manner similar to the second order formalism of general relativity, the Riemannian part of the Lorentz connection as function of the tetrad field, we construct theories that do not contain second or higher order derivatives in the field variables, possess a full general relativity limit in the absence of spinning matter fields, and allow for propagating torsion fields in the general case. A concrete model is discussed and the field equations are reduced by means of a Yasskin type ansatz to a conventional Einstein-Proca system. Approximate solutions describing the exterior of a spin polarized neutron star are prsented and the possibility of an experimental detection of the torsion fields is briefly discussed., Comment: final version, to appear in IJMPD

We present a simple method to derive the semiclassical equations of motion for a spinning particle in a gravitational field. We investigate the cases of classical, rotating particles (pole-dipole particles), as well as particles with intrinsic spin. We show that, starting with a simple Lagrangian, one can derive equations for the spin evolution and momentum propagation in the framework of metric theories of gravity and in theories based on a Riemann-Cartan geometry (Poincare gauge theory), without explicitly referring to matter current densities (spin and energy-momentum). Our results agree with those derived from the multipole expansion of the current densities by the conventional Papapetrou method and from the WKB analysis for elementary particles., Comment: 28 pages

Gravitational gauge theories with de Sitter, Poincare and affine symmetry group are investigated under the aspect of the breakdown of the initial symmetry group down to the Lorentz subgroup. We review the theory of spontaneously broken de Sitter gravity by Stelle and West and apply a similar approach to the case of the Poincare and affine groups. Especially, we find that the groundstate of the metric affine theory leads to the determination of the Lorentzian signature of the metric in the groundstate. We show that the Higgs field remains in its groundstate, i.e., that the metric will have Lorentzian signature, unless we introduce matter fields that explicitely couple to the symmetric part of the connection. We also show that some features, like the necessity of the introduction of a dilaton field, that seem artificial in the context of the affine theory, appear most natural if the gauge group is taken to be the special linear group in five dimensions. Finally, we present an alternative model which is based on the spinor representation of the Lorentz group and is especially adopted to the description of spinor fields in a general linear covariant way, without the use of the infinite dimensional representations which are usually considered to be unavoidable., Comment: 50 pages, version to appear in Annals Phys

We will address the question of the consistency of teleparallel theories in presence of spinning matter which has been a controversial subject of discussion over the last twenty years. We argue that the origin of the problem is not simply the symmetry or asymmetry of the stress-energy tensor of the matter fields, which has been recently analyzed by several authors, but arises at a more fundamental level, namely from the invariance of the field equatins under a frame change, a problem that has been discussed long time ago by Kopczynski in the framework of the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity. More importantly, we show that the problem is not only confined to the purely teleparallel theory but arises actually in every Poincare gauge theory that admits a teleparallel geometry in the absence of spinning sources, i.e. in its classical limit., Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX

Several attempts to construct theories of gravity with variable mass are considered. The theoretical impacts of allowing the rest mass to vary with respect to time or an appropriate curve parameter are examined in the framework of Newtonian and Einsteinian gravity theories. In further steps, scalar-tensor theories are examined with respect to their relation to the variation of the mass and in an ultimate step, an additional coordinate is introduced and its possible relation to the mass is examined, yielding a five dimensional space-time-matter theory., Comment: 11 pages, REVTeX

A special-relativistic scalar-vector theory of gravitation is presented which mimics an important class of solutions of Einstein's gravitational field equations. The theory includes solutions equivalent to Schwarzschild, Kerr, Reissner-Nordstroem, and Friedman metrics as well as to gravitational waves. In fact, all the empirical tests until now due to general relativity can be explained within this flat spacetime theory., Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. D