Related papers: \"Uber-Gravity and the Cosmological Constant Probl…
Unimodular gravity is an interesting approach to address the cosmological constant problem, since the vacuum energy density of quantum fields does not gravitate in this framework, and the cosmological constant appears as an integration…
We consider predictions for structure formation from modifications to general relativity in which the Einstein-Hilbert action is replaced by a general function of the Ricci scalar. We work without fixing a gauge, as well as in explicit…
We show that generalizations of general relativity theory, which consist in replacing the Hilbert Lagrangian $L_{Hilbert} = \frac 1{16\pi} \sqrt{|g|} R$ by a generic scalar density $L=L(g_{\mu\nu}, R^\lambda_{\mu\nu\kappa})$ depending upon…
We discuss unimodular gravity at a classical level, and in terms of its extension into the UV through an appropriate path integral representation. Classically, unimodular gravity is simply a gauge fixed version of General Relativity (GR),…
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new way to inquire the quantum cosmology for a certain gravitational theory. Normally, the quantum cosmological model is introduced as the minisuperspace theory which is obtained by reducing the…
General relativity postulates the Minkowski space-time to be the standard flat geometry against which we compare all curved space-times and the gravitational ground state where particles, quantum fields and their vacuum states are primarily…
We first review the cosmological constant problem, and then mention a conjecture of Feynman according to which the general relativistic theory of gravity should be reformulated in such a way that energy does not couple to gravity. We point…
This thesis investigates a toy model for inflation in a class of modified theories of gravity in the metric formalism. Instead of the standard procedure -- assuming a non-linear Lagrangian $f(R)$ in the Jordan frame -- we start from a…
We investigated the cosmology in a higher-curvature gravity where the dimensionality of spacetime gives rise to only quantitative difference, contrary to Einstein gravity. We found exponential type solutions for flat isotropic and…
We study Lorentzian vacuum transition probabilities between two minima of a scalar field potential within the framework of $f(R)$ gravity. The analysis extends the previously considered WKB expansion of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation to…
The generic embedding of the $R+R^2$ higher curvature theory into old-minimal supergravity leads to models with rich vacuum structure in addition to its well-known inflationary properties. When the model enjoys an exact R-symmetry, there is…
Constant-curvature solutions lie at the very core of gravitational physics, with Schwarzschild and (Anti)-de Sitter being two of the most paradigmatic examples. Although such kind of solutions are very well-known in General Relativity, that…
We define and compute the energy of higher curvature gravity theories in arbitrary dimensions. Generically, these theories admit constant curvature vacua (even in the absence of an explicit cosmological constant), and asymptotically…
In this thesis we present the cosmological applications of some proposals from Quantum Gravity. Namely, we will explore classical and quantum cosmological implications of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP), the Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz…
The Maxwell extension of the conformal algebra is presented. With the help of gauging the Maxwell-conformal group, a conformally invariant theory of gravity is constructed. In contrast to the conventional conformally invariant actions, our…
The quantum gravity is formulated based on gauge principle. The model discussed in this paper has local gravitational gauge symmetry and gravitational field is represented by gauge potential. A preliminary study on gravitational gauge group…
In the framework of asymptotic safety, we study quantum quadratic gravity in the presence of the Higgs field considered as non-separable from the vacuum. The theory flows to a high energy fixed point where the Higgs field is strongly…
We introduce a novel theory of gravity based on the inverse of the Ricci tensor, that we call the anticurvature tensor. We derive the general equations of motion for any Lagrangian function of the curvature and anticurvature scalars. We…
Unimodular relativity is a theory of gravity and space-time with a fixed absolute space-time volume element, the modulus, which we suppose is proportional to the number of microscopic modules in that volume element. In general relativity an…
We study the $f(R)$ theory of gravity using metric approach. In particular we investigate the recently proposed model by Hu-Sawicki, Appleby $-$ Battye and Starobinsky. In this model, the cosmological constant is zero in flat space time.…