Related papers: Selected topics in scalar-tensor theories and beyo…
We naturally extend the theory of gravity with a conformally coupled scalar field by only requiring conformal invariance of the scalar field equation of motion and not of the action. The classically extended theory incorporates a…
Gravity theories with non-minimally coupled scalar fields are used as characteristic examples in order to demonstrate the challenges, pitfalls and future perspectives of considering alternatives to general relativity. These lecture notes…
In this review we present a thoroughly comprehensive survey of recent work on modified theories of gravity and their cosmological consequences. Amongst other things, we cover General Relativity, Scalar-Tensor, Einstein-Aether, and Bimetric…
We investigate cosmological models in a recently proposed geometrical theory of gravity, in which the scalar field appears as part of the space-time geometry. We extend the previous theory to include a scalar potential in the action. We…
Modifications of gravity have been considered to model the primordial inflation and the late-time cosmic acceleration. Provided that modified gravity models do not suffer from theoretical instabilities, they must be confronted with…
It has been pointed out that matter bounce cosmology driven by a k-essence field cannot satisfy simultaneously the observational bounds on the tensor-to-scalar ratio and non-Gaussianity of the curvature perturbation. In this paper, we show…
Out of several possible extensions of general relativity, the scalar-tensor theory is the most popular for several reasons. Since the quantum description of gravity is yet to be formulated properly, the understanding of a gravitational…
We investigate the cosmological applications of new gravitational scalar-tensor theories, which are novel modifications of gravity possessing 2+2 propagating degrees of freedom, arising from a Lagrangian that includes the Ricci scalar and…
In Brans-Dicke theory a non-linear self interaction of a scalar field allows a possibility of realizing the late-time cosmic acceleration, while recovering the General Relativistic behavior at early cosmological epochs. We extend this to…
In this paper we discuss a model which can be considered as a generalization of the well-known scalar-tensor Brans-Dicke theory. This model possesses an interesting feature: due to Born-Infeld type non-linearity of the scalar field the…
We study a modification of the Plebanski action, which generically corresponds to a bi-metric theory of gravity, and identify a subclass which is equivalent to the Bergmann-Wagoner-Nordtvedt class of scalar-tensor theories. In this manner,…
We consider cosmological models in scalar tensor theories of gravity that describe an accelerating universe, and we study a family of inverse power law potentials, for which exact solutions of the Einstein equations are known. We also…
Using dynamical systems methods, we describe the evolution of a minimally coupled scalar field and a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe in the context of general relativity, which is relevant for inflation and late-time…
We consider a 5-dimensional scalar-tensor theory which is a direct generalization of the original 4-dimensional Brans-Dicke theory to 5-dimensions. By assuming that there is a hypersurface-orthogonal spacelike Killing vector field in the…
We show that very general scalar-tensor theories of gravity (including, e.g., Horndeski models) are generically invariant under disformal transformations. However there is a special subset, when the transformation is not invertible, that…
We discuss a way in which the geometric scalar field in a Brans-Dicke theory can evade local astronomical tests and act as a driver of the late-time cosmic acceleration. This requires a self-interaction of the Brans-Dicke scalar as well as…
The tachyonic instability is associated with the unboundedness of the Hamiltonian from below and results in an unstable low-$k$ regime. In the cosmological exploration of modified gravity, it is seldom taken into account, with more focus…
In the context of Horndeski cosmologies, we consider a dynamical adjustment mechanism able to screen any value of the vacuum energy of the matter fields leading to a fixed de Sitter geometry. Thus, we present the most general scalar-tensor…
Cosmic acceleration may be due to modifications of cosmic gravity and to test this we need robust connections between theory and observations. However, in a model independent approach like effective field theory or a broad class like…
We delve into the first-order thermodynamics of Horndeski gravity, focusing on spatially flat, homogeneous, and isotropic cosmologies. Our exploration begins with a comprehensive review of the effective fluid representation within viable…