Hamiltonian Analysis of the Conformal Decomposition of the Gravitational Field

This short note is devoted to the Hamiltonian formulation of the conformal decomposition of the gravitational field that was performed in [gr-qc/0501092]. We also analyze the gauge fixed form of the theory when we fix the conformal symmetry by imposing the condition det g=1.Comment: 12 page

Hamiltonian Analysis of Non-Relativistic Covariant RFDiff Horava-Lifshitz Gravity

We perform the Hamiltonian analysis of non-relativistic covariant Horava-Lifshitz gravity in the formulation presented recently in arXiv:1009.4885. We argue that the resulting Hamiltonian structure is in agreement with the original construction of non-relativistic covariant Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity presented in arXiv:1007.2410. Then we extend this construction to the case of RFDiff invariant Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz theory. We find well behaved Hamiltonian system with the number of the first and the second class constraints that ensure the correct number of physical degrees of freedom of gravity.Comment: 15 pages, v2. Title changed, major corrections in section 3. performed, corrected typos and references added,v3: additional typos corrected, references added,v4.additional comments added, version published in PR

Gauge Invariance for Generally Covariant Systems

Previous analyses on the gauge invariance of the action for a generally covariant system are generalized. It is shown that if the action principle is properly improved, there is as much gauge freedom at the endpoints for an arbitrary gauge system as there is for a system with ``internal'' gauge symmetries. The key point is to correctly identify the boundary conditions for the allowed histories and to include the appropriate end-point contribution in the action. The path integral is then discussed. It is proved that by employing the improved action, one can use time-independent canonical gauges even in the case of generally covariant theories. From the point of view of the action and the path integral, there is thus no conceptual difference between general covariance and ``ordinary gauge invariance''. The discussion is illustrated in the case of the point particle, for which various canonical gauges are considered.Comment: 41 pages, ULB-PMIF-92-0

Generalized Smarr relation for Kerr AdS black holes from improved surface integrals

By using suitably improved surface integrals, we give a unified geometric derivation of the generalized Smarr relation for higher dimensional Kerr black holes which is valid both in flat and in anti-de Sitter backgrounds. The improvement of the surface integrals, which allows one to use them simultaneously at infinity and on the horizon, consists in integrating them along a path in solution space. Path independence of the improved charges is discussed and explicitly proved for the higher dimensional Kerr AdS black holes. It is also shown that the charges for these black holes can be correctly computed from the standard Hamiltonian or Lagrangian surface integrals.Comment: 21 pages Latex file, 1 figure; discussion on integrability rectified, typo in (2.14) correcte

The local degrees of freedom of higher dimensional pure Chern-Simons theories

The canonical structure of higher dimensional pure Chern-Simons theories is analysed. It is shown that these theories have generically a non-vanishing number of local degrees of freedom, even though they are obtained by means of a topological construction. This number of local degrees of freedom is computed as a function of the spacetime dimension and the dimension of the gauge group.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX3.0 (LaTeX2.09), no figure

A Weyl-covariant tensor calculus

On a (pseudo-) Riemannian manifold of dimension n > 2, the space of tensors which transform covariantly under Weyl rescalings of the metric is built. This construction is related to a Weyl-covariant operator D whose commutator [D,D] gives the conformally invariant Weyl tensor plus the Cotton tensor. So-called generalized connections and their transformation laws under diffeomorphisms and Weyl rescalings are also derived. These results are obtained by application of BRST techniques.Comment: LaTeX, 10 pages. Minor corrections and a reference adde

The Maurer-Cartan structure of BRST differential

In this paper, we construct a new sequence of generators of the BRST complex and reformulate the BRST differential so that it acts on elements of the complex much like the Maurer-Cartan differential acts on left-invariant forms. Thus our BRST differential is formally analogous to the differential defined on the BRST formulation of the Chevalley-Eilenberg cochain complex of a Lie algebra. Moreover, for an important class of physical theories, we show that in fact the differential is a Chevalley-Eilenberg differential. As one of the applications of our formalism, we show that the BRST differential provides a mechanism which permits us to extend a nonintegrable system of vector fields on a manifold to an integrable system on an extended manifold

BRST-BFV method for nonstationary systems

Starting from an associated reparametrization-invariant action, the generalization of the BRST-BFV method for the case of nonstationary systems is constructed. The extension of the Batalin-Tyutin conversional approach is also considered in the nonstationary case. In order to illustrate these ideas, the propagator for the time-dependent two-dimensional rotor is calculated by reformulating the problem as a system with only first class constraints and subsequently using the BRST-BFV prescription previously obtained.Comment: Latex, RevTeX, 13 page

A note on BRST quantization of SU(2) Yang-Mills mechanics

The quantization of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory reduced to 0+1 space-time dimensions is performed in the BRST framework. We show that in the unitary gauge $A_0 = 0$ the BRST procedure has difficulties which can be solved by introduction of additional singlet ghost variables. In the Lorenz gauge $\dot{A}_0 = 0$ one has additional unphysical degrees of freedom, but the BRST quantization is free of the problems in the unitary gauge.Comment: 17 page

On the Strong Homotopy Lie-Rinehart Algebra of a Foliation

It is well known that a foliation F of a smooth manifold M gives rise to a rich cohomological theory, its characteristic (i.e., leafwise) cohomology. Characteristic cohomologies of F may be interpreted, to some extent, as functions on the space P of integral manifolds (of any dimension) of the characteristic distribution C of F. Similarly, characteristic cohomologies with local coefficients in the normal bundle TM/C of F may be interpreted as vector fields on P. In particular, they possess a (graded) Lie bracket and act on characteristic cohomology H. In this paper, I discuss how both the Lie bracket and the action on H come from a strong homotopy structure at the level of cochains. Finally, I show that such a strong homotopy structure is canonical up to isomorphisms.Comment: 41 pages, v2: almost completely rewritten, title changed; v3: presentation partly changed after numerous suggestions by Jim Stasheff, mathematical content unchanged; v4: minor revisions, references added. v5: (hopefully) final versio