Conformal relativity versus Brans-Dicke and superstring theories (Q406189)

Summary: We show how conformal relativity is related to Brans-Dicke theory and to low-energy-effective superstring theory. Conformal relativity or the Hoyle-Narlikar theory is invariant with respect to conformal transformations of the metric. We show that the conformal relativity action is equivalent to the transformed Brans-Dicke action for \(\omega=-3/2\) (which is the border between standard scalar field and ghost) in contrast to the reduced (graviton-dilaton) low-energy-effective superstring action which corresponds to the Brans-Dicke action with \(\omega=-1\). We show that like in ekpyrotic/cyclic models, the transition through the singularity in conformal cosmology in the string frame takes place in the weak coupling regime. We also find interesting self-duality and duality relations for the graviton-dilaton actions.