Schrödinger symmetry in spherically-symmetric static minisuperspaces with matter fields
Phys. Rev. D 114, 024055 – Published 21 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/x4sh-5sd9
Abstract
Schrödinger symmetry has been shown to emerge in a “fluid limit” from the full superspace to several minisuperspace models. To investigate one aspect of the robustness of this emergent symmetry, we consider two spherically-symmetric static minisuperspace models with matter fields at the classical level: (i) a Maxwell field with a cosmological constant, and (ii) massless scalar fields. By developing a method based on canonical transformations, we demonstrate that for model (i), three-dimensional Schrödinger symmetry emerges, and the solution is the (anti–)de Sitter Reissner-Nordström spacetime; for model (ii), ()D Schrödinger symmetry appears, and the solution is a generalized Janis-Newman-Winicour spacetime and its “interior,” a Kantowski-Sachs–type closed universe. Furthermore, for the vacuum model, we find that two-dimensional Schrödinger symmetry holds with different lapse functions and minisuperspace coordinates, suggesting the potential, yet unconfirmed, covariance of the symmetry. Finally, we propose a physical interpretation of the symmetry under the Hamiltonian constraint : symmetry generators commuting with map a solution to another one, while those noncommuting with generate a new theory with the Schrödinger symmetry and the transformed configuration is a solution to the new theory. These results reinforce the robustness of the emergent Schrödinger symmetry and open new frontiers for exploring dynamics of matter and gravity.