Related papers: Ghost-free, finite, fourth order D=3 (alas) gravit…
We construct higher-derivative gravity theories in three dimensions that admit holographic $c$-theorems and exhibit a unique maximally symmetric vacuum, at arbitrary order $n$ in the curvature. We show that these theories exhibit special…
We present a formulation of ghost-free massive gravity with flat reference metric that exhibits the full non-linear constraint algebraically, in a way that can be directly implemented for numerical simulations. Motivated by the presence of…
This article aims to transform the infinite-order Lagrangian density for ghost-free infinite-derivative linearized gravity into non-local. To achieve it, we use the theory of generalized functions and the Fourier transform in the space of…
4-derivative gravity provides a renormalizable theory of quantum gravity at the price of introducing a physical ghost, which could admit a sensible positive-energy quantization. To understand its physics, we compute ghost-mediated…
We study solutions describing spinning null sources called gyratons in generic theories of gravity with terms that are quadratic in curvature and contain an arbitrary number of covariant derivatives. In particular, we show that the…
In this work we shall address the ghost issue of $F\left( R,\mathcal{G} \right)$ gravity, which is known to be plagued with ghost degrees of freedom. These ghosts occur due to the presence of higher than two derivatives in the field…
We study the gravitational field of ultrarelativistic spinning objects (gyratons) in a modified gravity theory with higher derivatives. In particular, we focus on a special class of such theories with an infinite number of derivatives known…
We analyze the first-order formulation of the ghost-free bigravity model in three-dimensions known as zwei-dreibein gravity. For a special choice of parameters, it was argued to have an additional gauge symmetry and give rise to a partially…
We study the Faddeev-Popov ghost sector of asymptotically safe quantum gravity, which becomes non-perturbative in the ultraviolet. We point out that nonzero matter-ghost couplings and higher-order ghost self-interactions exist at a…
In quadratic gravity, with a positive Weyl squared coefficient, the extra spin-2 sector is shown to correspond to a dual inverted harmonic oscillator, instead of a ghost. Using the Wightman spectrum condition, we prove that the associated…
We study a novel class of higher curvature gravity models in $n$ spacetime dimensions which we call Ricci polynomial gravity. The action is consisted purely of a polynomial in Ricci curvature of order $N$. In the absence of the second order…
We address the question whether a graviton could have a small nonzero mass. The issue is subtle for two reasons: there is a discontinuity in the mass in the lowest tree-level approximation, and, moreover, the nonlinear four-dimensional…
In this paper we consider Quadratic Gravity as a low energy effective field theory of some unknown UV-complete theory of gravity. Using the spin-2 ghost pathology that occurs in Quadratic Gravity, we derive maximum value for the classical…
In this work we study a modified theory of gravity that contains up to fourth order spatial derivatives as a model for the Horava-Lifshitz gravity. The propagator is evaluated and, as a result, it is obtained one extra pole corresponding to…
A theory of gravity with a generic action functional and minimally coupled to N matter fields has a nontrivial fixed point in the leading large N approximation. At this fixed point, the cosmological constant and Newton's constant are…
We investigate the non-perturbative degrees of freedom of a class of weakly non-local gravitational theories that have been proposed as an ultraviolet completion of general relativity. At the perturbative level, it is known that the degrees…
We present a three dimensional non-relativistic model of gravity that is invariant under the central extension of the symmetry group that leaves the recently constructed Newtonian gravity action invariant. We show that the model arises from…
More than three decades ago quadratic gravity was found to present a perturbative, renormalizable and asymptotically free theory of quantum gravity. Unfortunately the theory appeared to have problems with a spin-2 ghost. In this essay we…
With an appropriate choice of parameters, a higher derivative theory of gravity can describe a normal massive sector and a ghost massless sector. We show that, when defined on an asymptotically de Sitter spacetime with Dirichlet boundary…
In order to explore some general features of modified theories of gravity which involve higher derivatives and spontaneous Lorentz and/or diffeomorphism symmetry breaking, we study the recently proposed new version of covariant…