Constraints and Degrees of Freedom in Lorentz-violating Field Theories

Many current models which “violate Lorentz symmetry” do so via a vector or tensor field which takes on a vacuum expectation value, thereby spontaneously breaking the underlying Lorentz symmetry of the Lagrangian. To obtain a tensor field with this behavior, one can posit a smooth potential for this field, in which case it would be expected to lie near the minimum of its potential. Alternately, one can enforce a nonzero tensor value via a Lagrange multiplier. The present work explores the relationship between these two types of theories in the case of vector models. In particular, the naïve expectation that a Lagrange multiplier “kills off” 1 degree of freedom via its constraint does not necessarily hold for vector models that already contain primary constraints. It is shown that a Lagrange multiplier can only reduce the degrees of freedom of a model if the field-space function defining the vacuum manifold commutes with the primary constraints

A general variational principle for spherically symmetric perturbations in diffeomorphism covariant theories

We present a general method for the analysis of the stability of static, spherically symmetric solutions to spherically symmetric perturbations in an arbitrary diffeomorphism covariant Lagrangian field theory. Our method involves fixing the gauge and solving the linearized gravitational field equations to eliminate the metric perturbation variable in terms of the matter variables. In a wide class of cases--which include f(R) gravity, the Einstein-aether theory of Jacobson and Mattingly, and Bekenstein's TeVeS theory--the remaining perturbation equations for the matter fields are second order in time. We show how the symplectic current arising from the original Lagrangian gives rise to a symmetric bilinear form on the variables of the reduced theory. If this bilinear form is positive definite, it provides an inner product that puts the equations of motion of the reduced theory into a self-adjoint form. A variational principle can then be written down immediately, from which stability can be tested readily. We illustrate our method in the case of Einstein's equation with perfect fluid matter, thereby re-deriving, in a systematic manner, Chandrasekhar's variational principle for radial oscillations of spherically symmetric stars. In a subsequent paper, we will apply our analysis to f(R) gravity, the Einstein-aether theory, and Bekenstein's TeVeS theory.Comment: 13 pages; submitted to Phys. Rev. D. v2: changed formatting, added conclusion, corrected sign convention

Stability of spherically symmetric solutions in modified theories of gravity

In recent years, a number of alternative theories of gravity have been proposed as possible resolutions of certain cosmological problems or as toy models for possible but heretofore unobserved effects. However, the implications of such theories for the stability of structures such as stars have not been fully investigated. We use our "generalized variational principle", described in a previous work, to analyze the stability of static spherically symmetric solutions to spherically symmetric perturbations in three such alternative theories: Carroll et al.'s f(R) gravity, Jacobson & Mattingly's "Einstein-aether theory", and Bekenstein's TeVeS. We find that in the presence of matter, f(R) gravity is highly unstable; that the stability conditions for spherically symmetric curved vacuum Einstein-aether backgrounds are the same as those for linearized stability about flat spacetime, with one exceptional case; and that the "kinetic terms" of vacuum TeVeS are indefinite in a curved background, leading to an instability.Comment: ReVTex; 20 pages, 3 figures. v2: references added, submitted to PRD; v3: expanded discussion of TeVeS; v4: minor typos corrected (version to appear in PRD