  According to general relativity, the interaction of a matter field with
gravitation requires the simultaneous introduction of a tetrad field, which is
a field related to translations, and a spin connection, which is a field
assuming values in the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group. These two fields,
however, are not independent. By analyzing the constraint between them, it is
concluded that the relevant local symmetry group behind general relativity is
provided by the Lorentz group. Furthermore, it is shown that the minimal
coupling prescription obtained from the Lorentz covariant derivative coincides
exactly with the usual coupling prescription of general relativity. Instead of
the tetrad, therefore, the spin connection is to be considered as the
fundamental field representing gravitation.
