Conformal and Weyl-Einstein gravity: Classical geometrodynamics

Abstract

We present a new formulation for the canonical approach to conformal (Weyl-squared) gravity and its extension by the Einstein-Hilbert term and a nonminimally coupled scalar field. For this purpose we use a unimodular decomposition of the three-metric and introduce unimodular-conformal canonical variables. The important feature of this choice is that only the scale part of the three-metric and the rescaled trace part of the extrinsic curvature change under a conformal transformation. This significantly simplifies the constraint analysis and manifestly reveals the conformal properties of a theory that contains the conformally invariant Weyl-tensor term. The conformal symmetry breaking which occurs in the presence of the Einstein-Hilbert term and a nonconformally coupled scalar field can then be interpreted directly in terms of this scale and this trace. We also discuss in detail the generator for the conformal transformations. This new Hamiltonian formulation is especially suitable for quantization, which will be the subject of a separate paper.

27 pages, conceptual clarifications added

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• Generating exact polytropes in non-conservative unimodular geometries
• Weyl Symmetry in Stochastic Quantum Gravity
• Probing dark fluids and modified gravity with gravitational lensing
• Unimodular Gauge and ADM Gravity Path Integral
• Treating the Einstein-Hilbert action as a higher derivative Lagrangian: revealing the missing information about conformal non-invariance
• Nöther Currents, Black Hole Entropy Universality and CFT Duality in Conformal Weyl Gravity
• Quantum Geometrodynamics of Higher Derivative Theories with and without Conformal Symmetry