Related papers: Higher curvature gravities, unlike GR, cannot be b…
We attempt to generalize the familiar covariantly conserved Bel-Robinson tensor B_{mnab} ~ R R of GR and its recent topologically massive third derivative order counterpart B ~ RDR, to quadratic curvature actions. Two very different models…
We describe a simple lattice model of higher-curvature quantum gravity in two dimensions and study the phase structure of the theory as a function of the curvature coupling. It is shown that the ensemble of flat graphs is entropically…
We compute quantum corrections for the gravitational potential obtained by including a derivative self-coupling in its classical dynamics as a toy model for analysing quantum gravity in the strong field regime. In particular, we focus on…
Gravity stands apart from other fundamental interactions in that it is locally equivalent to an accelerated frame and can be transformed away. Again it is indistinguishable from the geometry of space-time (which is an arena for all other…
Gravitational interferometers and cosmological observations of the cosmic microwave background offer us the prospect to probe the laws of gravity in the primordial universe. To study and interpret these datasets we need to know the possible…
We construct higher-derivative gravity theories in three dimensions that admit holographic $c$-theorems and exhibit a unique maximally symmetric vacuum, at arbitrary order $n$ in the curvature. We show that these theories exhibit special…
We study cosmological perturbations in mimetic gravity in the presence of classified higher derivative terms which can make the mimetic perturbations stable. We show that the quadratic higher derivative terms which are independent of…
We investigate the discretized version of the compact Randall-Sundrum model. By studying the mass eigenstates of the lattice theory, we demonstrate that for warped space, unlike for flat space, the strong coupling scale does not depend on…
We examine higher-curvature gravities whose FLRW configurations are specified by equations of motion which are of second order in derivatives, just like in Einstein gravity. We name these theories Cosmological Gravities and initiate a…
We discuss quadratic gravity where terms quadratic in the curvature tensor are included in the action. After reviewing the corresponding field equations, we analyze in detail the physical propagating modes in some specific backgrounds.…
We classify all the first-order vertices of gravity consistently coupled to a system of 2-form gauge fields by computing the local BRST cohomology H(s|d) in ghost number 0 and form degree n. The consistent deformations are at most linear in…
We consider the most general action for gravity which is quadratic in curvature. In this case first order and second order formalisms are not equivalent. This framework is a good candidate for a unitary and renormalizable theory of the…
It has been suggested that new massive gravity with higher order terms in the curvature may be renormalizable and thus a candidate for renormalizable quantum gravity. We show that three-dimensional gravity that contains quadratic scalar…
We formulate higher derivative gravity with Lagrange multiplier constraint and scalar projectors. Its gauge-fixed formulation as well as vector fields formulation is developed and corresponding spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking is…
The gravitational collapse in fourth order theories of gravity defined by an arbitrary action of the scalar curvature shows significant deviations with General Relativity. The presence of a new scalar mode produces a higher initial…
In this work, we review a plethora of modified theories of gravity with generalized curvature-matter couplings. The explicit nonminimal couplings, for instance, between an arbitrary function of the scalar curvature $R$ and the Lagrangian…
GR can be interpreted as a theory of evolving 3-geometries. A recent such formulation, the 3-space approach of Barbour, Foster and \'{O} Murchadha, also permits the construction of a limited number of other theories of evolving…
We consider possible resolutions of singularities in a contracting anisotropic universe for a class of higher derivative gravity theories. We give evidence that for our models the big crunch singularity may be replaced by a nearly flat…
In this work we show that the gravity lagrangian f(R) at relatively low curvatures in both metric and Palatini formalisms is a bounded function that can only depart from the linearity within the limits defined by well known functions. We…
We show that the instabilities of higher derivative gravity models with quadratic curvature invariant $\alpha R^2+\beta R_{\mu\nu}R^{\mu\nu}$ can be removed by judicious addition of constraints at the quadratic level of metric fluctuations…