2010/07/31 by Petr Horava, Charles M. Melby-Thompson · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-th #astro-ph.CO #gr-qc #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.82.064027
published as Phys.Rev.D82:064027,2010 · 41 pages; v2: small clarifications, references added
arxiv created 2010/08/25 · arxiv updated 2014/11/21
In the minimal formulation of gravity with Lifshitz-type anisotropic scaling, the gauge symmetries of the system are foliation-preserving diffeomorphisms of spacetime. Consequently, compared to general relativity, the spectrum contains an extra scalar graviton polarization. Here we investigate the possibility of extending the gauge group by a local U(1) symmetry to "nonrelativistic general covariance." This extended gauge symmetry eliminates the scalar graviton, and forces the coupling constant λ in the kinetic term of the minimal formulation to take its relativistic value, λ=1. The resulting theory exhibits anisotropic scaling at short distances, and reproduces many features of general relativity at long distances.