Projective invariance and Einstein's equations (Q674901)

The authors consider theories of gravitation based on a Lagrangian \(L\left(K_{\mu\nu}(j^1\Gamma), \nabla_\lambda\varphi^i,\varphi^i\right)\) that depends on a non-symmetric connection \(\Gamma\), some source fields \(\varphi^i\) and their covariant derivatives. It is assumed that the dependence on the connection \(\Lambda\) involves only the symmetric part \(K_{\mu\nu}(j^1\Gamma)\) of the Ricci tensors. Moreover, since the symmetric part of the Ricci tensors is invariant by projective transformations of the connections, i.e., transformations that preserve the geodesics, the authors also assume that the covariant derivatives \(\nabla_\lambda\varphi^i\) depend only on the projectively invariant part \({}^*\Gamma\) of the connection \(\Gamma\). Under these circumstances, the authors prove that the resulting gravitational theory is equivalent to Einstein's standard theory of gravitation based on a source Lagrangian that depends only on the original source fields.