Vanishing torsion coupling of the Maxwell field in canonical gauge theory of gravity

Abstract

The Maxwell field can be viewed as a $U(1)$-gauge theory, therefore, generalizing it to form-invariance in dynamical spacetime backgrounds should take this symmetry into account. This is of essential importance when generalizations of general relativity to theories with non-vanishing torsion are considered. Despite the many statements in literature that a $U(1)$-gauge field cannot couple to torsion, this issue was recently revived. In this letter we contribute to the discussion by demonstrating via a canonical transformation within the framework of the DeDonder-Weyl Hamiltonian formalism that a $U(1)$-gauge field does not couple to torsion.