Nambu-Goldstone and Massive Modes in Gravitational Theories with Spontaneous Lorentz Breaking

Abstract

Spontaneous breaking of local Lorentz symmetry is of interest as a possible mechanism originating from physics at the Planck scale. If such breaking occurs, however, it raises the questions of what the fate of the Nambu-Goldstone modes is, whether a Higgs mechanism can occur, and whether additional massive modes (analogous to the Higgs particle) can appear. A summary of some recent work looking at these questions is presented here.