Mass spectrum and linear perturbations of ghost-free multi-spin-2 theory

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Flinckman, J., Hassan, S. F.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Flinckman, J.
Hassan, S. F.
author_facet Flinckman, J.
Hassan, S. F.
contents Motivated by the spin-2 nature of gravity, we consider a theory of N interacting spin-2 fields, formulated in terms of vielbeins which have been argued to be free of the Boulware-Deser ghost. This is the only known such theory with nontrivial multi-field interactions. We develop an all-order expansion of the vielbein in terms of the metric and Lorentz field perturbations, enabling an expansion of the action in arbitrary backgrounds to any order. The mass matrix is then analysed around proportional vielbein solutions corresponding to vacuum Einstein spacetimes. It is shown that the theory exhibits a non-tachyonic spectrum with one massless and N-1 massive spin-2 modes, regardless of the sign of the cosmological constant. While the massless mode is universal, the non-zero masses cannot generally be determined analytically, but we obtain the lower and upper bounds on each mass eigenvalue in terms of the parameters of the theory.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_09439
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Mass spectrum and linear perturbations of ghost-free multi-spin-2 theory
Flinckman, J.
Hassan, S. F.
High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Motivated by the spin-2 nature of gravity, we consider a theory of N interacting spin-2 fields, formulated in terms of vielbeins which have been argued to be free of the Boulware-Deser ghost. This is the only known such theory with nontrivial multi-field interactions. We develop an all-order expansion of the vielbein in terms of the metric and Lorentz field perturbations, enabling an expansion of the action in arbitrary backgrounds to any order. The mass matrix is then analysed around proportional vielbein solutions corresponding to vacuum Einstein spacetimes. It is shown that the theory exhibits a non-tachyonic spectrum with one massless and N-1 massive spin-2 modes, regardless of the sign of the cosmological constant. While the massless mode is universal, the non-zero masses cannot generally be determined analytically, but we obtain the lower and upper bounds on each mass eigenvalue in terms of the parameters of the theory.
title Mass spectrum and linear perturbations of ghost-free multi-spin-2 theory
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.09439