Related papers: Finding Horndeski theories with Einstein gravity l…
Horndeski gravity is a popular contender for a phenomenological model of dynamical dark energy, and as such subject to observational constraints. In this work, we ask whether Horndeski gravity can be more than a phenomenological model and…
The Horndeski action is the most general one involving a metric and a scalar field that leads to second-order field equations in four dimensions. Being the natural extension of the well-known scalar-tensor theories, its structure and…
We study the model space generated by the time-dependent operator coefficients in the effective field theory of the cosmological background evolution and perturbations of modified gravity and dark energy models. We identify three classes of…
We consider the emergence of large-scale cosmological expansion in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. This is achieved by modelling sub-horizon regions of space-time as weak-field expansions around Minkowski space, and then subsequently…
We have recently proposed a special class of scalar tensor theories known as the Fab Four. These arose from attempts to analyse the cosmological constant problem within the context of Horndeski's most general scalar tensor theory. The Fab…
Modified gravity theories such as Einstein scalar Gauss Bonnet (EsGB) contain higher derivative terms in the spacetime curvature in their action, which results in modifications to the Hamiltonian and momentum constraints of the theory. In…
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…
Most existing theories of dark energy and/or modified gravity, involving a scalar degree of freedom, can be conveniently described within the framework of the Effective Theory of Dark Energy, based on the unitary gauge where the scalar…
We constrain the viable models of Horndeski gravity, written in its equivalent Generalised Galileon version, by resorting to the Witten positive energy theorem. We find that the free function $G_3(\phi, X)$ in the Lagrangian is constrained…
We develop a classical two-dimensional bi-scalar gravity based on the Kaluza-Klein reduction applied to the four-dimensional Horndeski theory. One of the scalar fields arises from the original four-dimensional theory, while the extra scalar…
We explore alternative formulations of the analogy between viable Horndeski gravity and Eckart's first-order thermodynamics. We single out a class of identifications for the effective stress-energy tensor of the scalar field fluid that,…
Since the rediscovery of Horndeski gravity, a lot of work has been devoted to the exploration of its properties, especially in the context of dark energy. However, one sector of this theory, namely the one containing the coupling of the…
We study holographic conformal anomalies and the corresponding $a$-theorem for Einstein gravity extended with Horndeski terms that involve up to and including linear curvature tensors. We focus on our discussion in $D=5$ bulk dimensions.…
We review the effective field theory of modified gravity in which the Lagrangian involves three dimensional geometric quantities appearing in the 3+1 decomposition of space-time. On the flat isotropic cosmological background we expand a…
We generalize the scale invariant gravity by allowing a negative kinetic energy term for the classical scalar field. This gives birth to a new scalar-tensor theory of gravity, in which the scalar field is in fact an auxiliary field. For a…
Starting from a generalised Kaluza-Klein action including arbitrary Horndeski potentials, we establish integrability and compatibility conditions that solve the generic field equations for spherical symmetry. The resulting theories can be…
We present the extension of the effective field theory framework to the mildly non-linear scales. The effective field theory approach has been successfully applied to the late time cosmic acceleration phenomenon and it has been shown to be…
Since general relativity is the unique theory of massless spin 2 particles at large distances, the most reasonable way to have significant modifications is to introduce one or more light scalars that mediate a new long-range force. Most…
We study the motion of particles in the background of a scalar-tensor theory of gravity in which the scalar field is kinetically coupled to the Einstein tensor and we present the null geodesic structure for asymptotically flat, AdS, and dS…
A canonical analysis of the Einstein-Hilbert action S_d (d>2) is considered, using the first order form with the metric and affine connection as independent fields. We adopt a conservative approach to using the Dirac constraint formalism;…