Gauge-fixing and spacetime reconstruction in the Hamiltonian theory of cosmological perturbations

Abstract

Abstract We develop a complete Hamiltonian approach to the theory of perturbations around any spatially homogeneous spacetime. We employ the Dirac method for constrained systems which is well-suited to cosmological perturbations. We refine the method via the so-called Kuchař parametrization of the kinematical phase space. We separate the gauge-invariant dynamics of the three-surfaces from the three-surface deformations induced by linear coordinate transformations. The canonical group of the three-surface deformations and the complete space of gauge-fixing conditions are explicit in our approach. We introduce a frame in the space of gauge-fixing conditions and use it to considerably simplify the prescription for gauge-fixing, partial gauge-fixing and spacetime reconstruction. Finally, we illustrate our approach by considering the perturbed Kasner Universe, for which we discuss two kinds of gauges that correspond respectively to the Coulomb-like and the Lorenz-like gauge in electrodynamics.