Related papers: Ghost-free higher order gravity from bi-gravity
We construct the spin-projection operators for a theory containing a symmetric two-index tensor and a general three-index tensor. We then use them to analyse, at linearized level, the most general action for a metric-affine theory of…
Understanding the role of higher derivatives is probably one of the most relevant questions in quantum gravity theory. Already at the semiclassical level, when gravity is a classical background for quantum matter fields, the action of…
A ghost-free theory of gravity with two dynamical metrics both coupled to matter is shown to be consistent and viable. Its cosmological implications are studied, and the models, in particular in the context of partially massless gravity,…
We introduce new techniques that can preserve unitarity of the system including ghost particles. Negative norms of the particles can be involved in zero-norm states by constraints of the physical space. These are useful to apply the…
General Relativity (GR) is an effective field theory valid in the infrared regime. Quadratic curvature extensions intended to probe ultraviolet physics generically propagate a massive spin-$2$ ghost and are therefore non-unitary. One route…
Inspired by a recent ghost-free nonlinear massive gravity in four-dimensional spacetime, we study its higher dimensional scenarios. As a result, we are able to show the constant-like behavior of massive graviton terms for some well-known…
In this work we study a modified theory of gravity that contains up to fourth order spatial derivatives as a model for the Horava-Lifshitz gravity. The propagator is evaluated and, as a result, it is obtained one extra pole corresponding to…
We suggest a class of generally covariant ghost-free nonlocal gravity models generating de Sitter or Anti-de Sitter background with an arbitrary value of the effective cosmological constant and featuring a mechanism of dark matter…
Higher Derivative (HD) Field Theories can be transformed into second order equivalent theories with a direct particle interpretation. In a simple model involving abelian gauge symmetries we examine the fate of the possible gauge fixings…
We propose a bigravity analogue of the $F(R)$ gravity. Our construction is based on recent ghost-free massive bigravity where additional scalar fields are added and the corresponding conformal transformation is implemented. It turns out…
We propose two new versions of ghost-free generalized $F(R)$ gravity with Lagrange multiplier constraint. The first version of such theory for a particular degenerate choice of the Lagrange multiplier, corresponds to mimetic $F(R)$ gravity.…
We investigate several quantum phenomena related to quadratic gravity after rewriting the general fourth-order action in a more convenient form that is second-order in derivatives and produces only first-class constraints in phase space. We…
The inclusion of higher derivatives is a necessary condition for a renormalizable or superrenormalizable local theory of quantum gravity. On the other hand, higher derivatives lead to classical instabilities and a loss of unitarity at the…
We study the non-relativistic Newton-Cartan limit of higher-order gravity theories in arbitrary dimensions. We first study it at the level of the action by introducing an additional 1-form gauge field and coupling it appropriately to the…
Infinite derivative theory of gravity is a modification to the general theory of relativity. Such modification maintains the massless graviton as the only true physical degree of freedom and avoids ghosts. Moreover, this class of modified…
We propose a step-by-step manual for the construction of alternative theories of gravity, perturbatively as well as nonperturbatively. The construction is guided by no more than two fundamental principles that we impose on the gravitational…
Special gravity refers to interacting theories of massless gravitons in Minkowski space-time which are invariant under the abelian gauge invariance $h_{ab}\rightarrow h_{ab}+\partial_{(a}\chi_{b)}$ only. In this article we determine the…
Runaway solutions can be avoided in fourth order gravity by a doubling of the matter operator algebra with a symmetry constraint with respect to the exchange of observable and hidden degrees of freedom together with the change in sign of…
4-derivative gravity provides a renormalizable theory of quantum gravity at the price of introducing a physical ghost, which could admit a sensible positive-energy quantization. To understand its physics, we compute ghost-mediated…
We construct a Hamiltonian for the nonlocal F(R) theory in the present work. By this construction, we demonstrate the nature of the ghost degrees of freedom. Finally, we find conditions that give rise to ghost-free theories