Geometric Interpretation of Electromagnetism in a Gravitational Theory with Torsion and Spinorial Matter

Possible geometric frameworks for a unified theory of gravity and electromagnetism are investigated: General relativity is enlarged by allowing for an arbitrary complex linear connection and by constructing an extended spinor derivative based on the complex connection. Thereby the spacetime torsion not only is coupled to the spin of fermions and causes a four-fermion contact interaction, but the non-metric vector-part of torsion is also related to the electromagnetic potential. However, this long-standing relation is shown to be valid only in a special U(1) gauge, and it is a formal consequence of the underlying extended geometry.