Related papers: Beyond Lovelock gravity: Higher derivative metric …
We consider extensions of the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian to a general functional of metric and Riemann curvature tensor. A given such Lagrangian describes two different theories depending on considering connection and metric (Palatini…
We construct the consistent ghost-free covariant scalar-vector-tensor gravity theories with second order equations of motion with derivative interactions. We impose locality, unitarity, Lorentz invariance and pseudo-Riemannian geometry as…
A higher order theory of dilaton gravity is constructed as a generalization of the Einstein-Lovelock theory of pure gravity. Its Lagrangian contains terms with higher powers of the Riemann tensor and of the first two derivatives of the…
I consider theories of gravity built not just from the metric and affine connection, but also other (possibly higher rank) symmetric tensor(s). The Lagrangian densities are scalars built from them, and the volume forms are related to…
We use a description based on differential forms to systematically explore the space of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Within this formalism, we propose a basis for the scalar sector at the lowest order in derivatives of the field and…
This is intended as a broad introduction to Chern-Simons gravity and supergravity. The motivation for these theories lies in the desire to have a gauge invariant system --with a fiber bundle formulation-- in more than three dimensions,…
A class of theories of gravity based on a Lagrangian which depends on the curvature and metric - but not on the derivatives of the curvature tensor - is of interest in several contexts including in the development of the paradigm that…
The possibility of the extension of spatial diffeomorphisms to a larger family of symmetries in a class of classical field theories is studied. The generator of the additional local symmetry contains a quadratic kinetic term and a potential…
We study the structure of scalar-tensor theories of gravity based on derivative couplings between the scalar and the matter degrees of freedom introduced through an effective metric. Such interactions are classified by their tensor…
We investigate symmetric Metric-Affine Theories of Gravity with a Lagrangian containing all operators of dimension up to four that are relevant to free propagation in flat space. Complementing recent work in the antisymmetric case, we…
Current generalizations of the classical Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian formulation of General Relativity are reviewed. Some alternative variational principles are known to reproduce Einstein's gravitational equations, and should therefore be…
The most general theory of gravity in d-dimensions which leads to second order field equations for the metric has [(d-1)/2] free parameters. It is shown that requiring the theory to have the maximum possible number of degrees of freedom,…
Chern-Simons models for gravity are interesting because they provide with a truly gauge-invariant action principle in the fiber-bundle sense. So far, their main drawback has largely been the perceived remoteness from standard General…
Effective gravitational field theories with background fields break local Lorentz symmetry and diffeomorphism invariance. Examples include Chern-Simons gravity, massive gravity, and the Standard-Model Extension (SME). The physical…
We extend a recent classification of three-dimensional spatially isotropic homogeneous spacetimes to Chern--Simons theories as three-dimensional gravity theories on these spacetimes. By this we find gravitational theories for all…
The Lanczos-Lovelock models of gravity constitute the most general theories of gravity in D dimensions which satisfy (a) the principle of of equivalence, (b) the principle of general co-variance, and (c) have field equations involving…
Degenerate scalar-tensor theories are recently proposed covariant theories of gravity coupled with a scalar field. Despite being characterised by higher order equations of motion, they do not propagate more than three degrees of freedom,…
We extend the class of recently formulated scalar-nonmetricity theories by coupling a five-parameter nonmetricity scalar to a scalar field and considering a mixed kinetic term between the metric and the scalar field. The symmetric…
We describe a new method to parameterise dark energy theories including massive gravity, elastic dark energy and tensor-metric theories. We first examine a framework to describe any second order Lagrangian which depends on the variation of…
We consider all degenerate scalar-tensor theories that depend quadratically on second order derivatives of a scalar field, which we have identified in a previous work. These theories, whose degeneracy in general ensures the absence of…