Gravitational wave constraints on the Paneitz operator
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
2026-05-01 v1 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
The Paneitz operator is a dimension-4 conformally invariant fourth-order differential operator that has recently attracted attention for possible cancellations of the vacuum energy. We show that, in four dimensions, the Paneitz operator acting on a scalar field falls within the class of extended mimetic gravity theories. Thus, it exhibits the usual instabilities of mimetic gravity. Assuming such instabilities are cured by higher derivative terms, we derive constraints on the Paneitz operator from a modified propagation speed of gravitational waves, after including the Einstein-Hilbert action in the mimetic gravity formulation.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.27568,
title = {Gravitational wave constraints on the Paneitz operator},
author = {Robin Valtin and Alexander Ganz and Guillem Domènech},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.27568},
year = {2026}
}