Unification of Gravity and Electromagnetism and Cosmology

Abstract

It is first argued that radiation by a uniformly accelerated charge in flat space-time indicates the need for a unified geometric theory of gravity and electromagnetism. Such a theory, based on a metric-affine $U_4$ manifold, is constructed with the torsion pseudo-vector ${\Gamma }_{\mu }$ linking gravity and electromagnetism. This conceptually simple extension results in (i) Einstein's equations being modified by a vacuum energy ${\Gamma }_{\mu }{\Gamma }_{\nu }$ and a scalar field $\Gamma ={\Gamma }^{\mu }{\Gamma }_{\mu }$ whose zero-mode is a cosmological constant $\Lambda$ representing `dark energy', (ii) most of the salient features of `dark matter'-like phenomena, (iii) a modified electrodynamics satisfying Heaviside duality, (iv) a finite and small Casimir Effect, and at the same time, (v) the empirical Schuster-Blackett-Wilson relation for the amazingly universal gyromagnetic ratio of slowly rotating, neutral astrophysical bodies.

23 pages, no figures, several typos corrected, including several equations; eqns 29, 60-63 deleted; section 4(iii) revised; all essential results remain unchanged. Withdrawn because the essential contents included in improved form in the latest submit/2356009