Related papers: Healthy theories beyond Horndeski
In this paper we consider scalar-tensor theories, allowing for both conformal and disformal couplings to a fluid with a generic equation of state. We derive the effective coupling for both background cosmology and for perturbations in that…
Can one be fooled into thinking that space and time are fundamentally described by a Lorentzian manifold? In this article, we describe a scenario in which a theory constructed on a (Euclidean signature) Riemannian manifold can lead to…
The Ostrogradsky theorem implies that higher-derivative terms of a single mechanical variable are either trivial or lead to additional, ghost-like degrees of freedom. In this letter we systematically investigate how the introduction of…
General relativity predicts the existence of only two tensorial gravitational wave polarizations, while a generic metric theories of gravity can possess up to four additional polarizations, including two vector and two scalar ones. These…
Hierarchies of Lagrangians of degree two, each only partly determined by the choice of leading terms and with some coefficients remaining free, are considered. The free coefficients they contain satisfy the most general differential…
We study the cosmological evolution of a scalar field in Horndeski gravity, assuming that the scalar field is subdominant with respect to the cosmic fluid. We first analyse the most general shift-symmetric action that respects local Lorentz…
We disclose remarkable features of the scalar-tensor theory with the derivative coupling of the scalar field to the curvature in the Palatini formalism. Using the disformal transformations, we show that this theory is free from Otrogradski…
We consider, in Minkowski spacetime, higher-order Maxwell Lagrangians with terms quadratic in the derivatives of the field strength tensor, and study their degrees of freedom. Using a 3+1 decomposition of these Lagrangians, we extract the…
A while ago a proposal have been made regarding Klein Gordon and Maxwell Lagrangians for causal set theory. These Lagrangian densities are based on the statistical analysis of the behavior of field on a sample of points taken throughout…
Scalar-tensor theories are one of the most natural and well-constrained alternative theories of gravity, while still allowing for significant deviations from general relativity. We present the equations of motion of nonspinning compact…
We investigate the implications of string Swampland criteria for alternative theories of gravity. Even though this has not rigorously been proven, there is some evidence that exact de-Sitter solutions with a positive cosmological constant…
A discussion of the number of degrees of freedom, and their dynamical properties, in higher-derivative gravitational theories is presented. The complete non-linear sigma model for these degrees of freedom is exhibited using the method of…
We consider Horndeski cosmological models able to screen the vacuum energy coming from any field theory assuming that after this screening the space should be in a de Sitter vacuum with a particular value of the cosmological constant…
We present an exact plane wave solution of the most general shift-symmetric Horndeski (generalized Galileon) theory. The solution consists of the scalar part, and the gravitational part with two polarization modes. The former is due to the…
Horndeski's theory of gravity is the most general scalar-tensor theory with a single scalar whose equations of motion contain at most second-order derivatives. A subsector of Horndeski's theory known as "Fab Four" gravity allows for…
We investigate the cosmological applications of new gravitational scalar-tensor theories, which are novel modifications of gravity possessing 2+2 propagating degrees of freedom, arising from a Lagrangian that includes the Ricci scalar and…
This paper shows a new approach to obtain analytical topological defects of a 2D Myers-Pospelov Lagrangian for two scalar fields. Such a Lagrangian presents higher-order kinetic terms, which lead us to equations of motion which are…
There has been considerable interest in constructing modified gravity theories that propagate only two degrees of freedom (DOFs), corresponding to the tensorial gravitational waves of general relativity. Within the framework of spatially…
Kinetic mixing between the metric and scalar degrees of freedom is an essential ingredient in contemporary scalar-tensor theories. This often makes hard to understand their physical content, especially when derivative mixing is present, as…
In the present work, the observational consequences of a subclass of of the Horndeski theory have been investigated. In this theory a scalar field (tachyon field) non-minimally coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant through an arbitrary…