Geometric inequivalence of metric and Palatini formulations of General Relativity

Abstract

Projective invariance is a symmetry of the Palatini version of General Relativity which is not present in the metric formulation. The fact that the Riemann tensor changes nontrivially under projective transformations implies that, unlike in the usual metric approach, in the Palatini formulation this tensor is subject to a gauge freedom, which allows some ambiguities even in its scalar contractions. In this sense, we show that for the Schwarzschild solution there exists a projective gauge in which the (affine) Kretschmann scalar, K≡RαβμνRαβμν, can be set to vanish everywhere. This puts forward that the divergence of curvature scalars may, in some cases, be avoided by a gauge transformation of the connection.