Hamiltonian gravity with fermions

Abstract

Fermions are coupled to the Einstein-Cartan system in the canonical formulation, including the cosmological, the Barbero-Immirzi, and the non-minimal coupling constants. The resulting ten first-class constraints generate gauge transformations that are on-shell equivalent to spacetime diffeomorphisms and SL(2,C) transformations. The gravitational second-class constraints receive fermionic contributions, which can be implemented by use of Dirac brackets or by solving them directly. Furthermore, we identify new fermionic (second-class) constraints that are necessary to recover the Dirac-fermion theory by relating the momenta to the configuration variables on dynamical solutions; this fermionic phase-space reduction is accomplished by use of corresponding Dirac brackets. The theory remains well-defined off the second-class constraint surfaces with ten additional degrees of freedom - six of which are gravitational and the remaining four are fermionic. Discrete (CPT) symmetries as well as implications for canonical quantization and modified theories of gravity with fermions are discussed.