Related papers: Exorcising the Ostrogradsky ghost in coupled syste…
We compare a relativistic and a nonrelativistic version of Ostrogradsky's method for higher-time derivative theories extended to scalar field theories and consider as an alternative a multi-field variant. We apply the schemes to space-time…
We derive sufficient conditions for theories consisting of multiple vector fields, which could also couple to external fields, to be multi-field generalised Proca theories. The conditions are derived by demanding that the theories have the…
In this work we shall address the ghost issue of $F\left( R,\mathcal{G} \right)$ gravity, which is known to be plagued with ghost degrees of freedom. These ghosts occur due to the presence of higher than two derivatives in the field…
We show that the reformulation of the de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley massive gravity theory using vielbeins leads to a very simple and covariant way to count constraints, and hence degrees of freedom. Our method singles out a subset of theories,…
We present a method that is optimized to explicitly obtain all the constraints and thereby count the propagating degrees of freedom in (almost all) manifestly first order classical field theories. Our proposal uses as its only inputs a…
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…
In two recent papers necessary and sufficient conditions for a given system of second-order ordinary differential equations to be of Lagrangian form with additional dissipative forces were derived. We point out that these conditions are not…
We prove that higher-derivative and genuinely nonlocal Lagrangian systems can be Lyapunov-stable even when their Hamiltonians lack a lower bound. Explicit free and coupled Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillators, together with a genuine nonlocal model,…
Linearized four-derivative gravity with a general gauge fixing term is considered. By a Legendre transform and a suitable diagonalization procedure it is cast into a second-order equivalent form where the nature of the physical degrees of…
We present the most general ghost-free classical Lagrangian containing first-order derivatives and describing interacting real Abelian spin-one fields on Minkowski spacetime. We study both massive Proca and massless Maxwell fields and allow…
We present a simple class of mechanical models where a canonical degree of freedom interacts with another one with a negative kinetic term, i.e. with a ghost. We prove analytically that the classical motion of the system is completely…
Interacting theories with higher derivatives involve ghosts. They correspond to instabilities that display themselves at the classical level. We notice that comparatively "benign" mechanical higher-derivative systems exist where the…
A metric transformation is a tool to find a new theory of gravity beyond general relativity. The gravity action is guaranteed to be free from a dangerous Ostrogradsky mode as long as the metric transformation is regular and invertible.…
We propose a new classical approach for describing a system composed of $n$ interacting particles with variable mass connected by a single field with no predefined form ($n$-VMVF systems). Instead of assuming any particular nature or…
The Lee-Wick Standard Model assumes a minimal set of higher-derivative quadratic terms that produce a negative-norm partner for each Standard Model particle. Here we introduce additional terms of one higher order in the derivative expansion…
The Ostrogradski approach for the Hamiltonian formalism of higher derivative theory is not satisfactory because of the reason that the Lagrangian cannot be viewed as a function on the tangent bundle to coordinate manifold. In this article,…
Path integral expressions for three canonical formalisms -- Ostrogradski's one, constrained one and generalized one -- of higher-derivative theories are given. For each fomalism we consider both nonsingular and singular cases. It is shown…
The almost simultaneous detection of gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst from a neutron star merger has put a tight constraint on the difference between the speed of gravity and light. In the four-dimensional scalar-tensor…
In this paper, the ghost-freeness of the higher derivative theory proposed by Hassan et al. in [Universe 1 (2015) 2, 92] is investigated. Hassan et al. believed the ghost-freeness of the higher derivative theory based on the analysis in the…
The Ostrogradsky instability of higher derivative Lagrangians is derived from first principles using Control theory and Lyapunov Stability Analysis. This result is then used to argue that Born-Infeld Lagrangians are viable modifications of…