English

Functional Determinants in Higher Derivative Lagrangian Theories

High Energy Physics - Theory 2014-11-20 v2 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

Motivated by the considerable success of alternative theories of gravity, we consider the toy model of a higher derivative Lagrangian theory, namely the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator studied in a recent paper by Hawking-Hertog. Its Euclidean Path Integral is studied with a certain detail and a pedagogical derivation of the propagator, which makes use of a Theorem due to Forman, is consequently proposed

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0907.4265,
  title  = {Functional Determinants in Higher Derivative Lagrangian Theories},
  author = {Roberto Di Criscienzo and Sergio Zerbini},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0907.4265},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

12 pages, no figures, error sign corrected in section 3, conclusions unchanged, one reference added

R2 v1 2026-06-21T13:28:37.751Z