Related papers: A Galileon Primer
A Galileon field is one which obeys a spacetime generalization of the non-relativistic Galilean invariance. Such a field may possess non-canonical kinetic terms, but ghost-free theories with a well-defined Cauchy problem exist, constructed…
This contribution gives an overview on primordial non-Gaussianities from a theoretical perspective. After presenting a general formalism to describe nonlinear cosmological perturbations, several classes of models, illustrated with examples,…
We consider small perturbations about homogeneous backgrounds in dilatationally-invariant Galileon models. The issues we address are stability (absence of ghosts and gradient instabilities) and superluminality. We show that in Minkowski…
We study the cosmology of a covariant Galileon field with five covariant Lagrangians and confront this theory with the most recent cosmological probes: the type Ia supernovae data (Constitution and Union2 sets), cosmic microwave background…
In this paper, we prove a similar result to the fundamental theorem of regular surfaces in classical differential geometry, which extends the classical theorem to the entire class of singular surfaces in Euclidean 3-space known as frontals.…
The study of dynamic singularity formation in spacetime, focusing on scalar field collapse models, is analysed. We revisit key findings regarding open spatial topologies, concentrating on minimal conditions necessary for singularity and…
Alternative gravitational theories described by Lagrangians depending on general functions of the Ricci scalar have been proven to give coherent theoretical models to describe the experimental evidence of the acceleration of universe at…
The dynamics of any spherical cosmology with a scalar field (`scalaron') coupling to gravity is described by the nonlinear second-order differential equations for two metric functions and the scalaron depending on the `time' parameter. The…
We present a wide class of models which realise a bounce in a spatially flat Friedmann universe in standard General Relativity. The key ingredient of the theories we consider is a noncanonical, minimally coupled scalar field belonging to…
One of the difficulties encountered when studying physical theories in discrete space-time is that of describing the underlying continuous symmetries (like Lorentz, or Galilei invariance). One of the ways of addressing this difficulty is to…
In this survey article we introduce the notion of frontals, which provides a class of generalised submanifolds with singularities but with well-defined tangent spaces. We present a review of basic theory and known studies on frontals in…
With the idea to find geometric formulations of particle physics we investigate the predictions of a three dimensional generalisation of the Sine-Gordon model, very close to the Skyrme model and to the Wu-Yang description of Dirac…
We study singularities and geometric properties of surfaces given by the singular loci of normal congruence of frontals with pure-frontal singular points. These surfaces consist of the normal ruled surface and focal surfaces of the initial…
We review the different frameworks in which Galileon scalar fields have been seen to emerge such an in DGP, New Massive Gravity and Ghost-free massive Gravity and emphasize their relation with the Lovelock invariant in braneworld models.…
We discuss some fundamental issues underlying gravitational physics and point out some of the main shortcomings of Einstein's General Relativity. In particular, after taking into account the role of the two main objects of relativistic…
The special Galileon stands out amongst scalar field theories due to its soft limits, non-linear symmetries and scattering amplitudes. This prompts the question what the origin of its underlying symmetry is. We show that it is intimately…
Based on the principle of reparametrization invariance, the general structure of physically relevant classical matter systems is illuminated within the Lagrangian framework. In a straightforward way, the matter Lagrangian contains…
Gravity theories with non-minimally coupled scalar fields are used as characteristic examples in order to demonstrate the challenges, pitfalls and future perspectives of considering alternatives to general relativity. These lecture notes…
We show that every Galileon theory admits a dual formulation as a Galileon theory with new operator coefficients. In n dimensions a free scalar field in Minkowski spacetime is dual to a (n+1)-th order Galileon theory which exhibits the…
The particular structure of Galileon interactions allows for higher-derivative terms while retaining second order field equations for scalar fields and Abelian $p$-forms. In this work we introduce an index-free formulation of these…