The geometry of minimal replacement for the Poincaré group (Q1079833)

Most of the results are obtained from two elementary facts: (1) the Poincaré group \(P_{10}\) is the maximal group of isometries of Minkowski space-time \(M_ 4\); (2) \(P_{10}\) has a faithful matrix representation as a subgroup of GL(5,\({\mathbb{R}})\). Local action of \(P_{10}\) and Yang-Mills minimal replacement are shown to induce a well- defined minimal replacement operator that maps the tensor algebra over \(M_ 4\) onto the tensor algebra over a new space-time \(U_ 4\). The natural frame and coframe fields of \(M_ 4\) go over into a canonical system of frame and coframe fields of \(U_ 4\) with both translation and Lorentz-rotation parts. The coframe fields define soldering 1-forms fields for \(U_ 4\) that give rise to the standard geometric quantities through the Cartan equations of structure. This leads to unique determinations of all relevant connection coefficients and the associated 2-forms of curvature and torsion that involve the compensating 1-forms for the local action of both the translations and Lorentz-rotations. The metric tensor of \(U_ 4\), that is induced by the minimal replacement operator, is shown to satisfy the Ricci lemma; \(U_ 4\) is necessarily a Riemann-Cartan space. This space admits gauge covariant constant basis fields for the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group and for the Dirac algebra. The induced basis for the Dirac algebra evaluates the images of Dirac equations under minimal replacement, while the induced basis for the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group serves to show that the holonomy group of \(U_ 4\) is the component of the Lorentz group connected to the identity. The analysis is extended to the case of a total gauge group that is the direct product of \(P_{10}\) with a Lie group of internal symmetries of matter fields. In all cases, the natural representations induced by minimal replacement result in curvature-quantities being evaluated in terms of first order derivatives of compensating fields; they share many properties with the Dirac derivation algebra for spin fields. Primary gravitational effects are shown to come from the compensating fields for the little Lorentz group, rather than from the group of translations, by studying the geodesic equations.