Seiberg-Witten map with Lorentz-invariance and gauge-covariant star product

We develop the Seiberg-Witten map using the gauge-covariant star product with the noncommutativity tensor θμν(x). The latter guarantees the Lorentz invariance of the theory. The usual form of this map and its other recent generalizations do not consider such a covariant star product. We construct the Seiberg-Witten map for the gauge parameter, the gauge field and the strength tensor to the first order in the noncommutativity parameter θμν(x). Prescription for the generalization of the map to higher orders is also given. Interestingly, the associativity of the covariant star product both in the first and second orders requires the same constraints, namely, on the θμν(x) and on the space-time connection. This fact suggests that the same constraints could be enough to ensure the associativity in all orders. The resulting Seiberg-Witten map applies both to the internal and space-time gauge theories. Comparisons with the Seiberg-Witten map based on other (non-covariant) star products are given and some characteristic properties are also presented. As an application, we consider the GL(2,C) noncommutative gauge theory of gravitation, in which it is shown that the connection determines a space-time with symplectic structure (as proposed by Zumino et al [33]). This example shows that the constraints required for the associativity of the gauge-covariant star product can be satisfied. The presented GL(2,C) noncommutative gauge theory of gravitation is also compared to the one (given by Chamseddine [44]) with non-covariant star product.