The Cosmology of Quadratic Torsionful Gravity

Abstract

We study the cosmology of a quadratic metric-compatible torsionful gravity theory in the presence of a perfect hyperfluid. The gravitational action is an extension of the Einstein-Cartan theory given by the usual Einstein-Hilbert contribution plus all the admitted quadratic parity even torsion scalars and the matter action also exhibits a dependence on the connection. The equations of motion are obtained by regarding the metric and the metric-compatible torsionful connection as independent variables. We then consider a Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker background, analyze the conservation laws, and derive the torsion modified Friedmann equations for our theory. Remarkably, we are able to provide exact analytic solutions for the torsionful cosmology.