We work out the description of the gauge symmetry of unimodular gravity in the constrained Hamiltonian formalism. In particular, we demonstrate how the transversality conditions restricting the diffeomorphism parameters emerge from the algebra of the Hamiltonian constraints. The alternative form is long known as parametrizing the volume preserving diffeomorphisms by unrestricted two-forms instead of the transverse vector fields. This gauge symmetry is reducible. We work out the Hamiltonian description of this form of unimodular gravity (UG) gauge symmetry. Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin–Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky (BFV-BRST) Hamiltonian formalism is constructed for both forms of the UG gauge symmetry. These two BRST complexes have a subtle inequivalence: Their BRST cohomology groups are not isomorphic. In particular, for the first complex, which is related to the restricted gauge parameters, the cosmological constant does not correspond to any nontrivial BRST cocycle, while for the alternative complex it does. In the wording of physics, this means $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ is a fixed parameter defined by the field asymptotics rather than the physical observable from the standpoint of the first complex. The second formalism views $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ as the observable with unrestricted initial data.

• Received 20 March 2022
• Accepted 18 May 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.124006

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Published by the American Physical Society