The Einstein-Cartan-Dirac theory

Abstract

There are various generalizations of Einstein's theory of gravity (GR); one of which is the Einstein-Cartan (EC) theory. It modifies the geometrical structure of manifold and relaxes the notion of affine connection being symmetric. The theory is also called $U_4$ theory of gravitation; where the underlying manifold is not Riemannian. The non-Riemannian part of the space-time is sourced by the spin density of matter. Here mass and spin both play the dynamical role. We consider the minimal coupling of Dirac field with EC theory; thereby calling the full theory as Einstein-Cartan-Dirac (ECD) theory. In the recent works by T.P Singh titled "A new length scale in quantum gravity", the idea of new unified; mass dependent length scale $L_{cs}$ in quantum gravity has been proposed. We discuss this idea and formulate ECD theory in both - standard length scales as well as this new length scale. We found the non-relativistic limit of ECD theory using WKB-like expansion in $\sqrt{\hbar}/c$ of the ECD field equations with both the length scales. At leading order, ECD equations with standard length scales give Schrödinger-Newton equation. With $L_{cs}$, in the low mass limit, it gives source-free Poisson equation and for higher mass limit, it reduces to Poisson equation with delta function source. Based on this, a falsifiable test of the idea of $L_{cs}$ has been proposed. Next, we formulate ECD theory with both the length scales (especially the Dirac equation (Hehl-Datta equation) and Contorsion spin coefficients) in Newman-Penrose (NP) formalism. The idea of $L_{cs}$ suggests a symmetry between small and large masses. Formulating ECD theory with $L_{cs}$ in NP formalism is desirable because NP formalism happens to be the common vocabulary for the description of low masses (Dirac theory) and high masses (gravity theories). A duality between Curvature and torsion has also been discussed.