Slightly bimetric gravitation (Q5955370)

A number of authors have discussed the utility of a flat background metric \(\eta_{\mu\nu}\) in general relativity or the possibility of deriving that theory, approximately or exactly, from a linear theory in flat spacetime. Doing so enables one to formulate a gravitational stress-energy tensor, not merely a pseudotensor, so gravitational energy-momentum is localized in a coordinate-independent way. Building on the works of R.~Kraichnan and S.~Deser, the authors present such a derivation using universal coupling and gauge invariance. Next, the assumptions of universal coupling and gauge invariance are slightly weakened, obtaining a larger ``slightly bimetric'' class of theories, in which the Euler-Lagrange equations depend only on a curved metric, matter fields, and the determinant of the flat metric. The theories are equivalent to generally covariant theories with an arbitrary cosmological constant and an arbitrarily coupled scalar field, which can serve as an inflaton or dark matter. The question of the consistency of the null cone structures of the two metrics is addressed.