Nuclear Physics B91 (1975) 99-- 108

© North-Holland Publishing Company

GHOST-FREE FORMULATION OF QUANTUM GRAVITY

IN THE LIGHT-CONE GAUGE*

Michio KAKU
Department of Physics,
The City College of The City University of New York,
New York, N. Y. 10031

Received 30 January 1975

By choosing the light-cone gauge, we remove all redundant components of the metric
tensor as well as all Faddeev-Popov ghosts from the Einstein Lagrangian, from which
Feynman rules for two independent transverse components can be immediately formu-
lated. The 2 + 2 decomposition of the metric tensor proves to be simpler than the usual
canonical 1 + 3 decomposition, so that all spurious components can be explicitly elimi-
nated from the spectrum. Because the Lagrangian is now only a function of independent
components, it is possible to study the unresolved problem of the functional measure for
quantum gravity. We are presently studying the measure problem.

1. Introduction

The light-cone gauge proves to be a useful gauge in which to quantize gravity. In

the usual canonical quantization of gravity, the 1 + 3 decomposition of the metric
tensor leads to serious complications which partially hinder the elimination of all
eight redundant components of the metric tensor. In the light cone gauge, however,
the simple 2 + 2 decomposition of the metric allows us to easily reduce the quan-
tum system down to its two transverse components. We find great simplification of
the equations, but the Lagrangian remains non-polynomial.
The original motivation for light cone quantization comes from the dual model
of strings, where the field theory of strings leads us to suspect that q u a n t u m gravity
can be reduced to a polynomial system. Because it can be shown that the zero slope
of the dual model reproduces quantum gravity [ 1] and because the field theory of
strings has a polynomial structure in the light-cone gauge [2], it was suspected that
gravitation itself may be polynomial. Our results cast serious doubt on this con-
jecture.

* Work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. GP-3809 7X,
and in part by the Research Foundation of the City University of New York under Grant No.
10649.
1O0 114.Kaku/Quantum gravity

Because we work in the Lagrangian formulation, the measure of integration re-

mains unspecified. But because we reduce the system down to two transverse com-
ponents, our results give us a clue as to what the measure might be, because the
measure is equal to 1 in the Hamiltonian formulation when expressed in terms of
independent variables. For us to determine the measure, we need only convert our
Lagrangian formulation into the Hamiltonian formulation, where the measure is
known. Working backwards, we then know the measure in the original Einstein
Lagrangian. We are investigating this approach.
In sect. 2, we quantize gravity in the light cone gauge. In sect. 3, we eliminate
ghost contributions.

2. Light-cone quantization

We begin our discussion of the quantization of gravity in the light-cone gauge by

giving the form of the Einstein Lagrangian:
= , (2.1)
where
a . . = a.r.°o - a o r L + r L r L _ r..rooP
a , (2.2)

Pu~ =~gaa(°ug~,o + °uguo - °¢guu) , (2.3)

g = det guy • (2.4)

The S-matrix for the quantized theory can be written as a Feynman path integral:

( f l S l i ) = -u<fl-] c~ gUU4~~ exp{i f d4xZ?) AFp FIx8xM¢;i" (2.5)

(Alternatively, we could also have treated the r ' ~ as independent functional vari-
ables, in which case the curvature tensor becomes a function of the P ~ . The de-
Gt
fining equation for l"uv emerges as a result of explicitly evaluating the functional
ot
integral over the r'uv, or equivalently, as part of the equations of motion. This is the
Palatini first-order tbrmalism, which is useful when quantizing in the Hamiltonian
formalism.)
In eq. (2.5), the term AFp is the Faddeev-Popov [3] determinant which is re-
quired when introducing the delta-functional constraints rl x 8 x. The undetermined
measure M, which must appear in the Lagrangian formalism, can be determined by
reducing the problem to the Hamiltonian formalism with only two independent
transverse sets of canonical momenta and coordinates, where the measure is equal
to 1.
The Einstein action is invariant under an infinitesimal variation given by:
8guu = -~'YOvguv - gust O. ~t _ g ~ Ou~'r" (2.6)
 M. Kaku/Quantum gravity I 01

To eliminate this ambiguity, we are allowed to choose four delta-functional gauge

constraints Ilx6 x in our expression for the S-matrix.
In the Lagrangian formalism [4], which we will use, we originally start with 10
components in the metric tensor (of which 8 are redundant). We can eliminate four
immediately via the gauge constraints, and four more can be eliminated by first
carefully choosing a new set o f variables and then by integrating functionally over
these redundant variables. The advantage o f the Lagrangian formalism is that the
functional integrations can be explicitly performed, so we can write down the
Feynman rules for quantum gravity with no redundant or ghost contributions. The
disadvantage o f this formalism is that the measure is undetermined.
In the Hamiltonian formalism [5], the functional measure in the reduced set o f
independent transverse variables is 1. In this formalism, we first start with the
Palatini formalism, with' 10 components in the metric tensor and 40 in the l"u~. 10
of the 1-'~, will eventually become the canonical momentum variables, and the re-
maining 30 can be eliminated vuz the definition (2.3). Of these 20 components,
four can be eliminated because there are relationships between the 10 momenta
(Dirac's "Phi" conditions):

829. = llOu = IlOta(guv, ~ g u v ) , ~ ~ 0. (2.7)

G~ogo u
Dirac has shown that the Einstein action can be re-expressed in a fashion such that
guO become Lagrange multipliers. By functionally integrating over them, we are
then left with four more conditions:
1
Ruo - 2guo R = 0 . (2.8)
(Alternatively, these latter conditions emerge when we commute the original "phi"
conditions with the Hamiltonian.) Finally we are allowed to impose four more
gauge constraints, making a total of 16 total conditions, which gives us the desired
reduced set of transverse momenta and coordinates [6].
The canonical quantization o f gravity in the equal-time formalism leads to
technical complications because the metric tensor is decomposed in the 1 + 3 sys-
tem. In this paper, we will quantize along equal " t i m e " surfaces defined by x + = 0.
We will discover that the entire Lagrangian system can be fully reduced to the set
of independent transverse components because o f the simpler 2 + 2 decomposition
[7] of the metric tensor.
We begin by choosing the light cone gauge constraints:

5x= I] 6(kl(x)gU+(x)-Su+), (2.9)

U=-t-,--
1,2

where l is an arbitrary constant, and k = det (gi]), i,j = 1,2. (5 ÷ - = - 1 , 5 +i = 5 - i =8 ++

5 - - = 0). We will solve the entire system in terms of transverse components for ar-
bitrary 1, but we will find that the equations simplify if we choose l = 0 or l = ¼. (In
102 M. Kaku/Quantum gravity

sect. 3, we will show that the ghost contributions emerging from the gauge con-
straints do not affect the imaginary part of the amplitude, and hence the spectrum
of states do not include ghosts.)
Given these gauge constraints, we can immediately functionally integrate over
g÷+, g ÷ - , and g+i to obtain:
(_g)~ = k~ (g÷- 2 _ g++g--- )-~ = _g+ _ k ~ , (2.10)
1 ..

(-g)~gUVRuv = -g+_k r (gqRij + g - - R _ _

+ 2g-iR_i + 2 g ÷ - R + _ ) , (2.11)

(--g)~g--R _ _ "- ~k~g. _g- - (gi/O2_gi]

-½ b_ggO_gi/- O_log(-g+_)O_ log k ) , (2.12)

(-g)~g-iR_i ~-- '2k~g+._g-i (k -¼ a_ [g÷-k~ gi/O_ (gikgk +)l

+(gikO_gxi - 6/0_ log k ) l / - k~O_ [ailog(-g+_)(k)-~]}. (2.13)

The vertical slash represents covariant differentiation with respect to the transverse
components.
- (-g)~ [ 2 g + - R + _ +giJRij ]

"- 2 k" O+~_ l o g ( - g + _ ) + 2k'~giJbi(-g÷_) h ~j(-g÷_)÷

+ ½k~ (gilglm _ gi/g lm ) ~ _ glm a +gii

- g+ - k~gil'2gii (glm), (2.14)

__g._ = _ ( g + - ) - I = kI ' gi/g/k = 6f (2.15)

(The ~ means equality up to a total derivative.) When expressed in this form, sev-
eral interesting features are immediately obvious. First, we see that g - - appears in
the Lagrangian only through (2.12), and hence we are allowed to functionally
integrate over this variable:

f C~g-- exp{i y d 4 x ( - g ) + g - - R _ _ )

= ~ {½g+_ k" [gija2g 0 - ~a_g0agi]

- 8_ I o g ( - - g + _ ) 0 _ logk] ) . (2.16)

At this point, we see that solving this equation presents a formidable task. If we
 M. Kaku/Quantum gravity 103

wish to further functionally integrate over, say, gii, then (2.16) must be tediously
solved by a clumsy power expansion. By choosing new variables, however, the
problem reduces to finding the solution of the equation:
~2 logk + (¼ - I) (3_ logk) 2 +-~ eij32_eiy = 0 , (2.17)
where

gij '
el~ =x/~ ei / = gijx/~ ,

d e t e i i = d e t e ij = l .
Re-expressed in this form, we can now solve (2.17) if we let
y =3_.logk,

Y = ~ anun, a = l - - a ,' (2.18)

n=0

Y=g-_l [_~eiia2_eii + ( l - ¼)y2] . (2.18)

We can now solve for the u n :

n-I
Lln = ~1 k"= Ui Un - 1 - i • (2.20)

A few u's are:

UO =~_1 [-~eiia2eii] - ,

Ul =~_ [-~e'JO2-eifl ~,_. [-~ei/O2-ei/] ,

u2 = 2 ~ (u 1 u 0 ) , etc. (2.21)

We can thus rewrite (2.16) as (up to a functional factor):

F o r / - - g,
i we have:

k = exp{(b-~-) 2 (--leii32eii)}. (2.23)

104 M. Kaku/Quantum gravity

In summary, we see that the integration over g - - provides us with another

functional constraint which allows us to solve for the determinant ofgij.
Lastly, we can eliminate the last two redundant variables g - i by rearranging
(2.13) as follows
2(-g)g --iR-i ~ Nik~ [(gjkO - gki)[ j

+ O/log (-g+_)½ 0_ logk -- 0 i 0_ log ( - g + _ )

- O i O _ l o g k ] +_~(_g÷_)-I k~ gijO_NiO_N] ' (2.24)

N i = gijg+j = _g-ig÷ _ . (2.25)

The resulting quadratic integral can be functionally integrated:

f,H,
(2.26)

where c is an irrelevant functional factor depending on a_ and where det (Aij) =

k2-21.
Now that we have functionally integrated over the redundant variables g - - , g-i,
and det (gi/), we arrive at the reduced Lagrangian:
•~(gij/vCk) = ~ k~(gilg jm - gijglm)a+glm a_gii

+ 2k'~ a+a_ log(k/) + kl+~gii2Rij(glm )

+ 2k]gi/Oi(k]l)O/(k ½1)

- 1-2k-l+~ geMZM/, (2.27)

where

Mi , .. 1 ,
-'-kl-~g'l~_{k'~(glmO_gmj - 6/a_ log k)ll

- ka_ [(ailogkl)k-~l), (2.28)

k exp ( - ~ e i i a 2 eii) ...

Notice that the Lagrangian simplifies if we choose 1 = 0 or l _-_ 1a- We will find it con-
venient to further redefine our variables by expressing our Lagrangian in terms of a
 M. Kaku/Quantum gravity 105

unimodular matrix el! which is decomposed as follows:

ei/=x/l +or 2 +/3 2 5i/+hi/,

e i/=x/1 +or 2 +/3 2 6 ij - h i j ,

O~

Tr hi/= 0,

eij = x,~ - det hi~ 80 + hi/. (2.29)

We can now express our Lagrangian in terms of eii:
~°(c~,/3) = -~k -~(ei/a+~_.. eo)

+ (2l + ½ ) k ~ 3 + ~ log k + ¼kt(ei/(bta m ei/)etm

- 2aie/k~kelie/t } + 2ei/Oik'~l~/k'~l

+ ~..ik- l+ I ei/MiM/

M/= kl+ l e i~ ~- ( al[ klelm 3_ emi] + ~ k ~ ~_e lm Oielm

- k ~ i~ia_ log k

+ lk': ~ilog k~jlog k - lk ~ Di a_ log k } . (2.30)

We see immediately that the Lagrangian is not polynomial in the fields mainly due
to the square root in the definition of el~ and due to the expression for the deter-
minant ofgi/. This disproves the conjecture made in dual models.

3. Unitarity

The gauge condition (2.9) can be inserted into the S-matrix if we simultaneously
insert the Faddeev-Popov factor:

AFp = detll 5 ~6( Y ) (kl(x)gtt+(x) - ~Su+)II~,xy , (3.1)

where the variation o|'guv is given by (2.6).

This can be re-expressed as:
106 M. Kaku/Quantum gravity

Al~p1 = det Ilkl(x)gZV(X)Ox.rS(x-. y)6+v

- - y) - 2t .+ - y)8

- 2 1 6 u + (gl.- ( x ) k t ( x ) ) ~ x / 6 ( x - y)6+~ I Ii~v,xy

-1 (3.2)

=
f®.'Pu cD ~°u expl-i f d4x (~o~klg~ Ov~o- - ~ou a_ ~ou
+ 21 ~p*_a/tpJ + 2l ~o*_(g/-k l) a/~+}l, (3.3)

~o+ = -~o_ , ~0i = ~oi.

Notice that the ghost functional does not contribute to the imaginary part, since
the ghost propagator is not singular on shell. This is to be expected, since we are ex-
pressing the graviton system entirely out of two transverse components. The ghosts
do not contribute to the spectrum o f intermediate states. Notice also that this deter-
minant, when carefully decomposed into factors in the Lorentz indices (+, - , 1,2),
is independent of the entries ( - - ) , ( - i ) , ( i - ) i.e. the determinant isn't changed if
we express the functional determinant as a function only of its (++), ( - + ) , and (ii)
entries:

A~p1 = f ~ ~0u* q)~ou exp [+i f d 4 x ( ~ 20 _ ~o_

+ ~p_*a _ tp+ - ~p? O_ ~Pi}] - (3..4)

Since this functional determinant is not a function of the graviton field, we have
thereby shown that the determinant is merely an uninteresting constant.
The next contribution to closed loops comes through the conversion o f (2.16)
to (2.22):

6(k-exp 1 n~=o
-~- = anun )
6((-g)~R__) = , - , (3.5)
6 ( - g ) ~ ix
r, _ _(X)llxy

where
 M. Kaku/Quantumgravity 107

=klla2_6(x- y)+(¼-
X
/)[0
X
_k(x)lk(x)-lO _8(x- Y)llxy1 .
X
(3.6)
But:

C1 k-2C2 = f,-/) tp *'-O ~0exp {- i fd4x (3 _ ~o*)k 2c2 (3__~0)}

= fc-/) ~0. cj9 ~oexp {i fd4x~0 * O_ [k 2c: 3_ ~0]}

=feb ~0"0 ~oexp {i fd4x k 2c2~p* { 0 2_ + 2c 2 (3_ k) k- 13_ }~o}

= k-2C2 [I3 2_ t5(x - y ) + 2 c2(3 x-- k (x))k- l(x)~ _ 6(x - y)IIx1 .

x x (3.7)
So therefore
-1
116R--(X)ll = k, (3.8)
5k(y) xy
co

., .) (3.9)

In summary, we have eliminated all ghost contributions in the quantum system and
have reduced all equations down to their two transverse components.
It is now possible to carefully assemple all factors arising from the various
Jacobians that we have used when transforming variables. Because we are still in-
vestigating the problem of converting the Lagrangian system to the Hamiltonian
system, we cannot yet specify the exact nature of the factor M.
We find :

1-I q)gi/= - k - ~ ( 1 + a2 + 162)- ~ "7)kC-/)a'-/)~ " (3.10)

i<]
Our main result is then:

(flSli)= f u<v[I C'OgUU¢~eif d4x~?AFp [Ix 6xMr~i

= fc-D od-D~{(1 + a 2 + ~2) -+k-6l-3m}

x V?eifd':' ~¢'~,a)~i. (3.11)

4. Conclusion
We have been able to reduce the quantum system down to the two independent
transverse variables by functionally integrating over eight components of the metric
108 M. Kaku/Quantum gravity

tensor. Because o f the great simplification of the 2 + 2 decomposition of the metric

tensor, the new Lagrangian can be expressed as simple functions of the transverse
variables. Unfortunately, we find that the resulting Lagrangian is non-polynomial,
which casts some doubt made in dual models about polynomial formulations of
gravitation.
Because the measure in the reduced Hamiltonian system is 1, we can use our
results to calculate the original measure in the Lagrangian system. This problem is
under investigation.
By carefully treating all ghost and closed loop contributions, we have been able
to eliminate all ghost particles in the spectrum of states.
We hope to resolve the problem of functional measure. Currently, there are two
5
choices of the measure, 1 and (det guy)~. But since both choices of measure were
derived from simple invariance arguments (rather than by reducing the system to
the Hamiltonian formulation in terms of two transverse components) these results
are suspect.
After this work was completed, we received a paper from J. Scherk and J.
Schwarz, who also quantize the graviton in the light-cone gauge, with results similar
to ours.

We are happy to acknowledge many fruitful and helpful conversations with

Professor K. Kikkawa. We have also benefited from valuable conversations with
Professor B. Sakita and J.L. Gervais.

References

[1 ] J. Scherk and J. Schwarz, Nucl. Phys. B81 (1974) 118;

T. Yonea, Prog. Theor. Phys. 51 (1974) 1907.
[21 M. Kaku and K. Kikkawa, CUNY preprint, Phys. Rev. D, to be published;
J.L. Gervais and E. Cremmer, private communication.
[3] L.D. Faddeev and V.N. Popov, Kiev report No. IT-67-36, unpublished.
[4] E.S. Fradkin and I.V. Tyutin, Phys. Rev. D2 (1970) 2841.
[5] P.A.M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc. A246 (1958) 333; Phys. Rev. 114 (1959) 924.
[6] R. Arnowitt, S. Deser and C.W. Misner, Phys. Rev. 118 (1960) 1100.
[71 R.G. Root, Phys. Rev. D8 (1973) 3382;
C. Aragone and R. Gambini, Nuovo Cimento 18B (1973) 311;
C. Aragone and J. Chela-Flores, Triest preprint IC/73/146.