A Note on the Kaluza-Klein Theory

Abstract

We show that the Kaluza-Klein theory contains a fundamental problem: The four-dimensional metric tensor and the electromagnetic potential vector assumed in the Kaluza-Klein theory belong to four-dimensional vector spaces that are not integrable in general, resulting that the four-dimensional physical variables and the corresponding field equations derived from the five-dimensional Einstein field equation (i.e., the four-dimensional Einstein field equation and the Maxwell equations) are not defined on a four-dimensional submanifold. That is, the four-dimensional spacetime assumed in the Kaluza-Klein theory does not exist. No satisfactory solutions are found within the Kaluza-Klein formalism. Perhaps the best approach to fix the problem is giving up the Kaluza-Klein theory and looking for a new unified scheme for gravitational and electromagnetic interactions in the framework of a spacetime with extra dimensions, as having already been explored in some literature.

8 pages, 2 figures. Class. Quantum Grav. published online 2023