Self-Compactifying Gravity

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that certain f(R) gravity theories can naturally lead to the self-compactification of extra dimensions through scalar field configurations, with the compactification properties depending on the scalar potential's minima.

Contribution

It shows that f(R) gravity can inherently cause extra dimensions to compactify via scalar field solutions, providing a new mechanism for dimensional reduction.

Findings

Scalar field configurations satisfy energy-momentum and equations of motion.

The scalar field's potential minimum determines spacetime geometry and compactification.

The source of gravity exhibits a discrete spectrum.

Abstract

We study the self-compactification of extra dimensions via higher curvature gravity, f(R), where f(R) is the generic function of the Ricci scalar R. First, we reduce pure f(R) theory to a scalar-tensor theory by a conformal transformation. Then we show that, by a second conformal transformation, this scalar-tensor theory turns out to a nonminimal scalar-tensor theory. We find non-vanishing scalar field configurations that satisfy the conditions on the partially vanishing energy-momentum tensor and the equations of motion of the nonminimal scalar-tensor theory. It is interesting that we find that the source of gravity has discrete spectrum. The minimum of the potential changes according to the value of the coupling constant of the scalar field to the curvature scalar. When the minimum is at zero for a vanishing scalar field, the entire spacetime is flat. When the minimum is at a nonzero value for a non-vanishing scalar field, the extra space is compactified. We thus show that a given f(R) theory can self-compactify the extra dimensions.