Related papers: Scalar-Tensor theory as a singular subsector of {\…
We explore a family of generalised scalar-tensor theories that exhibit self-tuning to low scale anti de Sitter vacua, even in the presence of a large cosmological constant. We are able to examine the linearised fluctuations about these…
The work provides a possible explanation of a well motivated question - why the present universe is practically free from any noticeable footmarks of higher rank antisymmetric tensor fields, despite having the signatures of scalar, vector,…
Scalar-tensor gravitational theories are important extensions of standard general relativity, which can explain both the initial inflationary evolution, as well as the late accelerating expansion of the Universe. In the present paper we…
The use of Lagrange multipliers in the context of quintessence/phantom scalar fields allows to constrain the behavior of the scalar field, which provides a powerful tool, not only for the reconstruction of cosmological solutions but also…
We study a scalar-tensor extension of gravity with two scalar fields coupled to the Aharonov-Bohm extension of electrodynamics, where the scalar mode $S\equiv\partial_\mu A^\mu$ is dynamical. In this framework the trace of the…
We consider theories containing scalar fields interacting with vector or with tensor degrees of freedom, equipped with symmetries that prevent the propagation of linearized scalar excitations around solutions of the equations of motion. We…
The linear approximation of scalar-tensor theories of gravity is obtained in the physical (Jordan) frame under the 4+0 (covariant) and 3+1 formalisms. Then the weak-field limit is analyzed and the conditions leading to significant…
In the framework of teleparallel equivalent of general relativity, we study a gravity theory where a scalar field beyond its minimal coupling, is also coupled with the vector torsion through a non-minimal derivative coupling. After a…
We investigate, in the framework of a recently introduced new class of invariant geometrical scalar-tensor theory of gravity, the possibility that a viscous dark fluid can be described in a unified manner by a single scalar field. Thus we…
This talk is based on my work in collaboration with B. Boisseau, D. Polarski, and A.A. Starobinsky. The most natural and best-motivated alternatives to general relativity are the so-called "scalar-tensor" theories, in which the…
As an alternative to the covariant Ostrogradski method, we show that higher-derivative relativistic Lagrangian field theories can be reduced to second differential-order by writing them directly as covariant two-derivative theories…
The equivalence between theories depending on the derivatives of $R$, i.e. $f\left( R,\nabla R,...,\nabla^{n}R\right) $, and scalar-multi-tensorial theories is verified. The analysis is done in both metric and Palatini formalisms. It is…
We study new physical phenomena and constraints in generalized scalar--tensor theories of gravity with $\Phi$--dependent masses. We investigate a scenario (which can arise in string theories) with two types of $\Phi$--dependent masses which…
We discuss mimetic gravity theories with direct couplings between the curvature and higher derivatives of the scalar field, up to the quintic order, which were proposed to solve the instability problem for linear perturbations around the…
Degenerate scalar-tensor theories of gravity extend general relativity by a single degree of freedom, despite their equations of motion being higher than second order. In some cases, this is a mere consequence of a disformal field…
We formulate a scalar realization of Sciama's Machian programme within the general Bergmann-Wagoner class of scalar--tensor gravity. Starting from a universally conformally coupled matter sector, we rewrite the field equations in terms of…
The purpose of this work is to discuss how matter fields are coupled to gravity within the framework of General Relativity. Our particular focus here is on the coupling of scalar field models. In a first step, we suggest a new method for…
We investigate a class of first-order scalar field theories minimally coupled to a Carrollian connection that are defined intrinsically on the Carrollian plane, i.e., the theories are not defined via limits of Lorentzian theories. The…
SNIA and CMB datasets have shown both of evolving Newton's "constant" and a signature of the coupling of scalar field to matter. These observations motivate the consideration of the scalar-matter coupling in Jordan frame in the framework of…
In Plebanski's self-dual formulation general relativity becomes SO(3) BF theory supplemented with the so-called simplicity (or metricity) constraints for the B-field. The main dynamical equation of the theory states that the curvature of…