Related papers: Field redefinitions in theories beyond Einstein gr…
As an alternative to the covariant Ostrogradski method, we show that higher-derivative relativistic Lagrangian field theories can be reduced to second differential-order by writing them directly as covariant two-derivative theories…
Primordial cosmological perturbations are the seeds that were cultivated by inflation and the succeeding dynamical processes, eventually leading to the current Universe. In this work, we investigate the behavior of the gauge-invariant…
Disformal couplings to fermions lead to a unique derivative coupling to the axial fermionic current, which contains higher derivatives in general. We derive general conditions on consistent disformal couplings by requiring the absence of…
This is an introduction to an algebraic construction of a gravity theory on noncommutative spaces which is based on a deformed algebra of (infinitesimal) diffeomorphisms. We start with some fundamental ideas and concepts of noncommutative…
We review the construction of Lagrangians for higher spin fields of mixed symmetry in the framework of graded geometry. The main advantage of the graded formalism in this context is that it provides universal expressions, in the sense that…
In quantum field theories, field redefinitions are often employed to remove redundant operators in the Lagrangian, making calculations simpler and physics more evident. This technique requires some care regarding, among other things, the…
We investigate the issue of coordinate redefinition invariance by carefully performing nonlinear transformations in the discretized quantum mechanical path integral. By resorting to hamiltonian path integral methods, we provide the first…
We present a formalism to compute Lagrangian displacement fields for a wide range of cosmologies in the context of perturbation theory up to third order. We emphasize the case of theories with scale dependent gravitational strengths, such…
Invertible disformal transformations serve as a useful tool to explore ghost-free scalar-tensor theories. In this paper, we construct a generalization of invertible disformal transformations that involves arbitrary higher-order covariant…
The Horndeski Lagrangian brings together all possible interactions between gravity and a scalar field that yield second-order field equations in four-dimensional spacetime. As originally proposed, it only addresses phenomenology without…
We present a method for the Hamiltonian formulation of field theories that are based on Lagrangians containing second derivatives. The new feature of our formalism is that all four partial derivatives of the field variables are initially…
Although with great successes in explaining phenomena and natural behaviour involving the Universe or a part thereof, the General Theory of Relativity is far from a complete theory. Focusing on its extension within the framework of scalar…
Degenerate scalar-tensor theories of gravity extend general relativity by a single degree of freedom, despite their equations of motion being higher than second order. In some cases, this is a mere consequence of a disformal field…
We investigate the cosmological background evolution and perturbations in a general class of spatially covariant theories of gravity, which propagates two tensor modes and one scalar mode. We show that the structure of the theory is…
We consider the lagrangian $L=F(R)$ in classical (=non-quantized) two-dimensional fourth-order gravity and give new relations to Einstein's theory with a non-minimally coupled scalar field. We distinguish between scale-invariant lagrangians…
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…
We present a novel and remarkably simple formulation of degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theories whose Lagrangian is quadratic in second derivatives of some scalar field. Using disformal transformations of the metric, we…
In this paper I shall show how notions of Finsler geometry can be used to construct a new type of geometry using a scalar field, f, on the cotangent bundle of a differentiable manifold, M. This new geometry will be called Lorentzian…
The purpose of this work is to show that there exists an additional invariance of the $\beta$-function equations of string theory on $d+1$-dimensional targets with $d$ toroidal isometries. It corresponds to a shift of the dilaton 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,…