1

(I wrote the introduction section for the sake of completeness, notation and study. The question per se, is written in the section "My Question")

Introduction

On the one hand of nature, we have gravity; after a course on general relativity we realize two basic things:

$1)$ The mathematical structure of spacetime (manifolds and its differential geometry)

$2)$ General Relativity (GR) deals with a fundamental interaction of nature called gravity; its dynamics, from quantum field theory $[1]$ to the large scale structure of universe $[2]$, is given by Einstein Field Equations:

$$\delta S_{g_{\mu\nu}} = \frac{-1}{16\pi}\int_{(\mathcal{M},g)} R\sqrt{-g}dx^{4}=0 \implies R_{\mu\nu} -\frac{1}{2}R g_{\mu\nu} = 8\pi T_{\mu\nu}. \tag{1}$$

On the other hand of nature, we have the standard model; after some quantum field theory we realize that the free fields of the fundamental interactions of nature are expressed in a flat spacetime background approximation, given by $[3]$:

$$\delta S_{\mathrm{SM}} = \int_{(\mathbb{R}^{4},\eta)} \Big\{\frac{-1}{4\pi} B_{\mu\nu}B^{\mu\nu} - \frac{1}{4\pi} W^{a}_{\mu\nu}W_{a}^{\mu\nu} - \frac{1}{4\pi} G^{a}_{\mu\nu}G_{a}^{\mu\nu} \Big\}dx^{4} . \tag{2}$$

Fibre Bundles

Given a manifold $\mathcal{M}$, we construct another manifold $\mathcal{B}_{\mathcal{M}}$, called fibre bundle. A fibre bundle is a mathematcal structure with the following algebraic elements $[4]$:

$1)$ A differentiable manifold $\mathcal{E}$ called the total space.

$2)$ A differentiable manifold $\mathcal{M}$ called the base space.

$3)$ A differentiable manifold $\mathcal{F}$ called the typical fibre (or just fibre).

$4)$ A surjection $\pi: \mathcal{E} \to \mathcal{M}$ called the projection.

$5)$ The inverse image $\pi^{−1}(p)$ called the fibre at $p$.

$6)$ A Lie group $G$ called the structure group, which acts on $\mathcal{F}$ on the left.

Therefore, the fibre bundle is the whole structure: $\mathcal{B}_{\mathcal{M}} = \big(\mathcal{E}, \mathcal{M},\pi,\mathcal{F},G\big)$ and a intuitive picture is given in Figure $1$.

enter image description here

Figure $1$: A fibre bundle

Important examples can be given:

Tangent Bundle: $\mathcal{TM} = \big(\mathcal{E}, \mathcal{M},\pi,T_{p}\mathcal{M},GL(m,\mathbb{R})\big)$

Principal Bundle: $\mathcal{P} = \big(\mathcal{E}, \mathcal{M},\pi,G,G\big)$

Fibre Bundles in Standard Model

The mathematical setting of the spacetime introduces the tangent bundles (which in basic GR seems to be almost irrelevant at a first glance). But, for the other interactions, the principal bundles plays a paramount role. The stage here is the minkowski spacetime $(\mathbb{R}^4,\eta)$. If you introduce just the electromagnetic interaction, we should expect the tangent and principal fibre bundles to be:

$\mathcal{T}\mathbb{R}^{4}_{\mathrm{Electromagnetism}} = \big(\mathcal{E}, (\mathbb{R}^{4},\eta),\pi,\mathbb{R}^{4},\mathcal{Poin}\big)$

Where $\mathcal{Poin}$ is the poincaré group.

$\mathcal{P}_{\mathrm{Electromagnetism}} = \big(\mathcal{E}, (\mathbb{R}^{4},\eta),\pi,U(1),U(1)\big)$

For the whole standard model:

$\mathcal{T}\mathbb{R}^{4}_{SM} = \big(\mathcal{E}, (\mathbb{R}^{4},\eta),\pi,\mathbb{R}^{4},\mathcal{Poin}\big)$

$\mathcal{P}_{SM} = \big(\mathcal{E}, (\mathbb{R}^{4},\eta),\pi,U(1)\otimes SU(2)\otimes SU(3),U(1)\otimes SU(2)\otimes SU(3)\big)$

My Question

Given a curved spacetime, we should expect a general tangent bundle as $\mathcal{TM} = \big(\mathcal{E}, \mathcal{M},\pi,T_{p}\mathcal{M},GL(m,\mathbb{R})\big)$ . But, I don't know for sure if the "principal bundle for gravity" is exactly:

Principal Bundle: $\mathcal{P} = \big(\mathcal{E}, \mathcal{M},\pi,GL(m,\mathbb{R}),GL(m,\mathbb{R})\big)$

My question is: what is the gauge group of gravity?.

$$----------------------------------------------------------$$

$[1]$ Birrell.N.D. & P.C.W.Davis Quantum Field Theory in Curved Space

$[2]$ Weinberg. S. Cosmology

$[3]$ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_formulation_of_the_Standard_Model

$[4]$ Nakahara.M. Geometry, Topology and Physics

Qmechanic
  • 201,751
M.N.Raia
  • 3,075
  • 3
  • I don't understand what all the stuff about elementary definitions of bundles has to do with the question - the difficulty in understanding GR as a gauge theory is not "finding the bundle". 2. The notion of GR as a gauge theory has been discussed many times on this site already, see https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/346793/50583, https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/46324/50583, https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/71476/50583 and their linked questions
  • – ACuriousMind Dec 22 '21 at 00:02
  • @ACuriousMind I see. The question is more in the sense of "my reasoning is right?". Also, I would like to know, the tangent bundles and principal bundles "coexist"? I mean, given a spacetime you can construct its tangent bundle. But, the principal bundle is something that you choose right? Therefore, for particle physics, we have "two bundles"? The tangent one and the principal one? – M.N.Raia Dec 22 '21 at 00:06
  • If you're trying to understand how the formulation of gauge theories via principal bundles works in general, I'd recommend asking a more specific question about that and not starting with the rather confusing case of GR. – ACuriousMind Dec 22 '21 at 00:08
  • Thank you for the other links. I saw one here, quite the answer I was looking for. – M.N.Raia Dec 22 '21 at 00:30
  • 1
    The principle bundle you are looking for is the frame bundle. – MBN Dec 22 '21 at 10:12