Nordstrom gravity in (1+1) dimensions coupled to matter

We consider a (1 + 1)-dimensional model of general relativity that is based on a geometric theory of gravity due to Nordstrom. We show that the model can be reinterpreted as a scalar field theory in flat spacetime in which the scalar field couples to the trace of the total energy-momentum tensor, and we use the flat-spacetime interpretation to formulate the initial value problem for the model. We illustrate our results by using computer simulations of the model to obtain several example solutions.