Related papers: A unifying framework for ghost-free Lorentz-invari…
We present the details of the novel framework for Lagrangian field theories that are Lorentz-invariant and lead to at most second order equations of motion. The use of antisymmetric structure is of crucial importance. The general ghost-free…
We review how the (absence of) Ostrogradsky instability manifests itself in theories with multiple fields. It has recently been appreciated that when multiple fields are present, the existence of higher derivatives may not automatically…
We carry out the extension of the Ostrogradski method to relativistic field theories. Higher-derivative Lagrangians reduce to second differential-order with one explicit independent field for each degree of freedom. We consider a…
We provide a full analysis of ghost free higher derivative field theories with coupled degrees of freedom. Assuming the absence of gauge symmetries, we derive the degeneracy conditions in order to evade the Ostrogradsky ghosts, and analyze…
We perform a Hamiltonian analysis and prove that a large class of scalar-tensor theories whose Lagrangian is given by a generic function $F\left(K_{ab},N,R_{ab},h^{ab},\nabla_a,t\right)$ is free from the Ostrogradsky ghost, and thus these…
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 construct the consistent ghost-free covariant scalar-vector-tensor gravity theories with second order equations of motion with derivative interactions. We impose locality, unitarity, Lorentz invariance and pseudo-Riemannian geometry as…
We construct no-ghost theories of analytic mechanics involving arbitrary higher-order derivatives in Lagrangian. It has been known that for theories involving at most second-order time derivatives in the Lagrangian, eliminating linear…
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…
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 give a proof of the most general multiple scalar field theory in flat space-time free of Ostrogradski ghosts. We start from the assumption that the action is a functional of the scalar fields and their derivatives of order upto two…
We derive the most generic Carrollian higher derivative free scalar field theory intrinsically on a Carrollian manifold. The solutions to these theories are massless free particles propagating with speeds depending on the coupling constants…
We consider the O(3) or CP(1) nonlinear sigma model as an effective field theory in a derivative expansion, with the most general Lagrangian that obeys O(3), parity and Lorentz symmetry. We work out the complete list of possible operators…
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…
We study supergeometric structures underlying frame-like Lagrangians. We show that for the theory in n spacetime dimensions both the frame-like Lagrangian and its gauge symmetries are encoded in the target supermanifold equipped with the…
We propose an algebraic analysis using a 3+1 decomposition to identify conditions for a clever cancellation of the higher derivatives, which plagued the theory with Ostrogradsky ghosts, by exploiting some existing degeneracy in the…
We proposed a generalized Lagrangian for three different classes of scalar fields namely quintessence($\alpha =-1$), phantom($\alpha =0$), and tachyonic ($\alpha =1$) parameterized by $\alpha$. These three scalar fields can be described by…
We show that the parent Lagrangian method gives a natural generalization of the dual theories concept for non p-form fields. Using this generalization we construct here a three-parameter family of Lagrangians that are dual to the…
We study linear perturbations about static and spherically symmetric black holes with a time-independent background scalar field in shift-symmetric Horndeski theories, whose Lagrangian is characterized by coupling functions depending only…
We analyse what happens when the Horndeski Lagrangian is varied within the Palatini approach by considering the metric and connection as independent variables. Assuming the connection to be torsionless, there can be infinitely many…