Related papers: On higher derivative gravity, c-theorems and cosmo…
We construct the higher order terms of curvatures in Lagrangians of the scale factor for the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe, which are linear in the second derivative of the scale factor with respect to cosmic time. It is…
We find the membrane equations which describe the leading order in $1/D$ dynamics of black holes in the $D\rightarrow\infty$ limit for the most general four-derivative theory of gravity in the presence of a cosmological constant. We work up…
We consider theories describing the dynamics of a four-dimensional metric, whose Lagrangian is diffeomorphism invariant and depends at most on second derivatives of the metric. Imposing degeneracy conditions we find a set of Lagrangians…
In the context of gravitational theories describing renormalization group flows across dimensions via AdS/CFT, we study the role of higher-derivative corrections to Einstein gravity. We use the Null Energy Condition to derive monotonicity…
We develop a generally applicable method for constructing functions, $C$, which have properties similar to Zamolodchikov's $C$-function, and are geometrically natural objects related to the theory space explored by non-perturbative…
We consider cosmological and black hole solutions in the Einstein and higher-derivative gravity in two dimensions where the theory is formulated first in $D$ dimensions. In the limit that $D$ tends to $2$ with simultaneous singular…
This dissertation investigates three main topics, all of which dealing with alternative, higher-order gravity theories in four dimensions. Firstly, we study the variational and conformal structure of those theories. Next, we analyse their…
A new class of modified gravity theories with a healthy higher order derivative terms of a function of the matter Lagrangian $f(L_m)$ is considered. Generally the energy momentum tensor is not conserved, leading to the fifth force similar…
In the context of extended Teleparallel gravity theories with a 3+1 dimensions Gauss-Bonnet analog term, we address the possibility of these theories reproducing several well-known cosmological solutions. In particular when applied to a…
We discuss a non-dynamical theory of gravity in three-dimensions which is based on an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra that is closely related to an infinite-dimensional extended AdS algebra. We find an intriguing connection between on the…
We describe gauge theories which allow to retrieve a large class of gravitational theories, including, MacDowell-Mansouri gravity and its topological extension to Loop Quantum Gravity via the Pontrjagin characteristic class involving the…
We define `third derivative' General Relativity, by promoting the integration measure in Einstein-Hilbert action to be an arbitrary $4$-form field strength. We project out its local fluctuations by coupling it to another $4$-form field…
We study some aspects of the de Sitter version of Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity. Though we do not have propagating gravitons, we have a boundary mode when we compute observables with a fixed dilaton and metric at the boundary. We compute the…
A deSitter brane-world bounding regions of anti-deSitter space has a macroscopic entropy given by one-quarter the area of the observer horizon. A proposed variant of the AdS/CFT correspondence gives a dual description of this cosmology as…
We show that the combination of cubic invariants defining five-dimensional quasitopological gravity, when written in four dimensions, reduce to the version of four-dimensional Einsteinian gravity recently proposed by Arciniega, Edelstein &…
We examine the Kerr/CFT correspondence in Einstein gravity extended with quadratic curvature invariants. We consider two explicit examples in four and five dimensions and compute the central charges of the asymptotic symmetry algebras of…
We present C-functions for static and spherically symmetric spacetimes in Lovelock gravity theories. These functions are monotonically increasing functions of the outward radial coordinate and acquire their minima when evaluated on the…
This thesis explores the thermodynamics of the cosmological horizon, aiming to make progress towards a better understanding of the microscopic nature of its entropy. We utilise the constrained nature of low-dimensional gravity to do so and…
We present the graviton propagator for an infinite derivative, $D$-dimensional, non-local action, up to quadratic order in curvature around a Minkowski background, and discuss the conditions required for this class of gravity theory to be…
Homogeneous isotropic spatial flat cosmological models with two torsion functions in vacuum are built and investigated in the framework of de Sitter gauge theory of gravity. It is shown that by certain choices of parameters of gravitational…