Related papers: Superpotentials from variational derivatives rathe…
We revisit the definition and some of the characteristics of quadratic theories of gravity with torsion. We start from the most general Lagrangian density quadratic in the curvature and torsion tensors. By assuming that General Relativity…
We derive the field equations and the equations of motion for massive test particles in modified theories of gravity with an arbitrary coupling between geometry and matter by using the Palatini formalism. We show that the independent…
It is shown that for a wide class of analytic Lagrangians which depend only on the scalar curvature of a metric and a connection, the application of the so--called ``Palatini formalism'', i.e., treating the metric and the connection as…
The so-called $\Gamma\Gamma$-form of the gravitational Lagrangian, long known to provide its most compact expression as well as the most efficient generation of the graviton vertices, is taken as the starting point for discussing General…
We first consider the Lagrangian formulation of general relativity for perturbations with respect to a background spacetime. We show that by combining Noether's method with Belinfante's "symmetrization'' procedure we obtain conserved…
A mathematical derivation of Maxwell's equations for gravitation, based on a mathematical proof of Faraday's Law, is presented. The theory provides a linear, relativistic Lagrangian field theory of gravity in a weak field, and paves the way…
We derive the weak field limit of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theory and place novel bounds on the parameter space using terrestrial and space-based experiments. In order to analyze the theory in the context of a wide range of experiments, we…
The field equations of general relativity can be derived from the Einstein action, which is quadratic in connection coefficients, rather than the standard action involving the Gibbons-Hawking-York term and counterterm. We show that it is…
A discussion of the number of degrees of freedom, and their dynamical properties, in higher derivative gravitational theories is presented. The complete non-linear sigma model for these degrees of freedom is exhibited using the method of…
I consider theories of gravity built not just from the metric and affine connection, but also other (possibly higher rank) symmetric tensor(s). The Lagrangian densities are scalars built from them, and the volume forms are related to…
The N=2 supergravity action in D=5 is generalized by the inclusion of dimensionally continued Euler-Poincare form. The spacetime torsion implied by the Einsteinean supergravity is imposed by a Lagrangian constraint and resulting variational…
We study gravitational theory in 1+2 spacetime dimensions which is determined by the Lagrangian constructed as a sum of the Einstein-Hilbert term plus the two (translational and rotational) gravitational Chern-Simons terms. When the…
The gauging of the q-Poincar\'e algebra of ref. hep-th 9312179 yields a non-commutative generalization of the Einstein-Cartan lagrangian. We prove its invariance under local q-Lorentz rotations and, up to a total derivative, under…
The conserved charges associated to gauge symmetries are defined at a boundary component of space-time because the corresponding Noether current can be rewritten on-shell as the divergence of a superpotential. However, the latter is…
We discuss recent results on the cosmology of extended theories of gravity formulated in the Palatini approach, i.e., assuming that metric and connection are independent fields. In particular, we focus on the attempts to explain the cosmic…
We study the gravitational field sourced by localized scalar fields (lumps) in higher-derivative theories of gravity. By working in a static and spherically symmetric configuration, we find the linearized spacetime metrics generated by…
We investigate Einstein theories of gravity, coupled to a scalar field \vphi and point-like matter, which are characterized by a scalar field-dependent matter coupling function e^{H(\vphi)}. We show that under mild constraints on the form…
We consider extensions of the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian to a general functional of metric and Riemann curvature tensor. A given such Lagrangian describes two different theories depending on considering connection and metric (Palatini…
The problem of formulating synchronous variational principles in the context of General Relativity is discussed. Based on the analogy with classical relativistic particle dynamics, the existence of variational principles is pointed out in…
General Relativity has so far passed almost all the ground-based and solar-system experiments. Any reasonable extended gravity models should consistently reduce to it at least in the weak field approximation. In this work we derive the…