Teleparallel geometry with spherical symmetry: the diagonal and proper frames

Abstract

We present the proper co-frame and its corresponding (diagonal) co-frame/spin connection pair for spherically symmetric geometries which can be used as an initial ansatz in any theory of teleparallel gravity. The Lorentz transformation facilitating the move from one co-frame to the other is also presented in factored form. The factored form also illustrates the nature of the two degrees of freedom found in the spin connection. The choice of coordinates in restricting the number of arbitrary functions is also presented. Beginning with a thorough presentation of teleparallel gravity using the metric affine gauge theory approach and concentrating on f(T) teleparallel gravity, we express the field equations in the diagonal co-frame. We argue that the choice of diagonal co-frame may be more advantageous over the proper co-frame choice. Finally, assuming one additional symmetry, we restrict ourselves to the Kantowski-Sachs teleparallel geometries, and determine some solutions.