Role of matter in gravitation: going beyond the Einstein-Maxwell theory

Abstract

For field theories in curved spacetime, defining how matter gravitates is part of the theory building process. In this letter, we adopt Bekenstein's multiple geometries approach to allow part of the matter sector to follow the geodesics on a general pseudo-Riemannian geometry, constructed from a tensor and a $U(1)$ gauge field. This procedure allows us to generate a previously unknown corner of vector-tensor theories. In the Jordan frame, apparent high-derivative terms of the vector field are reduced by integrating out an auxiliary variable, at the cost of introducing new matter interactions. As a simple example, we consider a conformal relation between different geometries and demonstrate the presence of an auxiliary degree. We conclude with a discussion of applications, in particular for the early universe.