Related papers: Higher derivative scalar-tensor theory through a n…
We investigate the ghostfree scalar-tensor theory with a timelike scalar field, with derivatives of the scalar field up to the third order and with the Riemann tensor up to the quadratic order. We build two types of linear spaces. One is…
We propose a covariant, gauge-independent construction of foliation-based scalar-tensor theories, yielding diffeomorphism-invariant operators involving only gradients on the hypersurfaces where the scalar field is constant, assumed to be…
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…
We investigate the correspondence between generally covariant higher derivative scalar-tensor theory and spatially covariant gravity theory. The building blocks are the scalar field and spacetime curvature tensor together with their…
Ostrogradsky instability generally appears in nondegenerate higher-order derivative theories and this issue can be resolved by removing any existing degeneracy present in such theories. We consider an action involving terms that are at most…
We systematically construct ghost-free scalar-tensor theories whose Lagrangian includes up to third-order derivatives of the scalar field. Using a spatially covariant action written in terms of the ADM variables, we impose degeneracy and…
We review how the (absence of) Ostrogradsky instability manifests itself in theories with multiple fields. It has recently been appreciated that when multiple fields are present, the existence of higher derivatives may not automatically…
We discuss a new covariant scalar-tensor system aimed to realise Ho\v{r}ava proposal for a power-counting renormalizable theory of gravity, with the special feature of not propagating scalar degrees of freedom in an appropriate gauge. The…
We study new classes of metric transformations in the context of scalar-tensor theories, which involve both higher derivatives of the scalar field and derivatives of the metric itself. In general, such transformations are not invertible as…
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…
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,…
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity are known to allow significant deviations from general relativity through various astrophysical phenomena. In this paper, we formulate a scalar-connection gravity by setting up scalars and connection…
It is shown that, in the absence of matter fields, the coupling of a scalar field to the non-chiral Plebanski action can be obtained by relaxing the trace component of the simplicity constraints. This is realized by considering a subclass…
Higher order derivative theories, generally suffer from instabilities, known as Ostrogradsky instabilities. This issue can be resolved by removing any existing degeneracy present in such theories. We consider a model involving at most…
We consider a higher-derivative generalization of disformal transformations in $D$-dimensional spacetime and clarify the conditions under which they form a group with respect to the matrix product and the functional composition. These…
A discussion of the number of degrees of freedom, and their dynamical properties, in higher derivative gravitational theories is presented. The complete non-linear sigma model for these degrees of freedom is exhibited using the method of…
We propose a novel class of degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor theories as an extension of mimetic gravity. By performing a noninvertible conformal transformation on "seed" scalar-tensor theories which may be nondegenerate, we can…
The duality between a higher curvature $f(R)$ gravity model and a scalar-tensor theory helps to bring out the role of the additional degree of freedom originating from the higher derivative terms in the gravity action. Such a degree of…
In this paper, we study a class of higher derivative, non-local gravity which admits homogeneous and isotropic non-singular, bouncing universes in the absence of matter. At the linearized level, the theory propagates only a scalar degree of…
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,…