No vDVZ Discontinuity in Non-Fierz-Pauli Theories

Abstract

In theories of massive gravity with Fierz-Pauli mass term at the linearized level, perturbative radially symmetric asymptotic solutions are singular in the zero mass limit, hence van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov (vDVZ) discontinuity. In this note, in the context of gravitational Higgs mechanism, we argue that in non-Fierz-Pauli theories, which non-perturbatively are unitary, perturbative radially symmetric asymptotic solutions have a smooth massless limit, hence no vDVZ discontinuity. Perturbative vDVZ discontinuity as an artifact of the Fierz-Pauli mass term becomes evident in the language of constrained gravity, which is the massless limit of gravitational Higgs mechanism.