Related papers: Healthy theories beyond Horndeski
We have recently proposed a new class of gravitational scalar-tensor theories free from Ostrogradski instabilities, in arXiv:1404.6495. As they generalize Horndeski theories, or "generalized" galileons, we call them G$^3$. These theories…
We systematically construct ghost-free scalar-tensor theories whose Lagrangian includes up to third-order derivatives of the scalar field. Using a spatially covariant action written in terms of the ADM variables, we impose degeneracy and…
We present all scalar-tensor Lagrangians that are cubic in second derivatives of a scalar field, and that are degenerate, hence avoiding Ostrogradsky instabilities. Thanks to the existence of constraints, they propagate no more than three…
Theories with higher order time derivatives generically suffer from ghost-like instabilities, known as Ostrogradski instabilities. This fate can be avoided by considering "degenerate" Lagrangians, whose kinetic matrix cannot be inverted,…
We consider all degenerate scalar-tensor theories that depend quadratically on second order derivatives of a scalar field, which we have identified in a previous work. These theories, whose degeneracy in general ensures the absence of…
The Horndeski scalar-tensor theory and its recent extensions allow nonlinear derivative interactions of the scalar degree of freedom. We study the matter bispectrum of large scale structure as a probe of these modified gravity theories,…
We study the cosmology of an extended version of Horndeski theories with second-order equations of motion on the flat Friedmann-Lema\^{i}tre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) background. In addition to a dark energy field $\chi$ associated with the…
This article reviews scalar-tensor theories characterized by a Lagrangian that, despite the presence of second order derivatives, contain a single scalar degree of freedom. These theories, known as Degenerate Higher-Order Scalar-Tensor…
We show that, in generic higher-order scalar-tensor theories which avoid the Ostrogradsky instability, the presence of a scalar field significantly modifies the propagation of matter perturbations, even in weakly curved backgrounds. This…
A general framework for effective theories propagating two tensor and one scalar degrees of freedom is investigated. Geometrically, it describes dynamical foliation of spacelike hypersurfaces coupled to a general background, in which the…
This contribution reviews scalar-tensor theories whose Lagrangian contains second-order derivatives of a scalar field but nevertheless propagate only one scalar mode (in addition to the usual two tensor modes), and are thus not plagued with…
Degenerate Higher Order Scalar Tensor (DHOST) theories are the most general scalar-tensor theories whose Lagrangian depends on the metric tensor and a single scalar field and its derivatives up to second order. They propagate only one…
We use a description based on differential forms to systematically explore the space of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Within this formalism, we propose a basis for the scalar sector at the lowest order in derivatives of the field and…
We perform the Hamiltonian constraint analysis for a wide class of gravity theories that are invariant under spatial diffeomorphism. With very general setup, we show that different from the general relativity, the primary and secondary…
The scalar-tensor theories have become popular recently in particular in connection with attempts to explain present accelerated expansion of the universe, but they have been considered as a natural extension of general relativity long time…
We study new consistent scalar-tensor theories of gravity recently introduced by Langlois and Noui with potentially interesting cosmological applications. We derive the conditions for the existence of a primary constraint that prevents the…
We find a covariant completion of the flat-space multi-galileon theory, preserving second-order field equations. We then generalise this to arrive at an enlarged class of second order theories describing multiple scalars and a single…
Invertible disformal transformations are a useful tool to investigate ghost-free scalar-tensor theories. By performing a higher-derivative generalization of the invertible disformal transformation on Horndeski theories, we construct a novel…
We perform a Hamiltonian analysis of a large class of scalar-tensor Lagrangians which depend quadratically on the second derivatives of a scalar field. By resorting to a convenient choice of dynamical variables, we show that the Hamiltonian…
We propose a new class of higher derivative scalar-tensor theories without the Ostrogradsky's ghost instabilities. The construction of our theory is originally motivated by a scalar field with spacelike gradient, which enables us to fix a…