Related papers: Gravitational Positivity Bounds on Scalar Potentia…
The linear approximation of scalar-tensor theories of gravity is obtained in the physical (Jordan) frame under the 4+0 (covariant) and 3+1 formalisms. Then the weak-field limit is analyzed and the conditions leading to significant…
We apply positivity bounds directly to a $U(1)$ gauge theory with charged scalars and charged fermions, i.e. QED, minimally coupled to gravity. Assuming that the massless $t$-channel pole may be discarded, we show that the improved…
We propose a generalisation of the Weak Gravity Conjecture in the presence of scalar fields. The proposal is guided by properties of extremal black holes in ${\cal N}=2$ supergravity, but can be understood more generally in terms of…
The weak field limit of scalar tensor theories of gravity is discussed in view of conformal transformations. Specifically, we consider how physical quantities, like gravitational potentials derived in the Newtonian approximation for the…
The swampland is the set of seemingly consistent low-energy effective field theories that cannot be consistently coupled to quantum gravity. In this review we cover some of the conjectural properties that effective theories should possess…
Positivity bounds - constraints on any low-energy effective field theory imposed by the fundamental axioms of unitarity, causality and locality in the UV - have recently been used to constrain scalar-tensor theories of dark energy. However,…
That preferred-frame theory accounts for special relativity and reduces to it if the gravitation field cancels. Starting from an interpretation of gravity as a pressure force, it is based on just one scalar field. This scalar gives the…
Planck scale physics represents a future challenge, located between particle physics and general relativity. The Planck scale marks a threshold beyond which the old description of spacetime breaks down and conceptually new phenomena must…
Assuming the existence of a local, analytic, unitary UV completion in a Poincar\'{e} invariant scalar field theory with a mass gap, we derive an infinite number of positivity requirements using the known properties of the amplitude at and…
In the context of quantum gravitational systems, we place bounds on regions in field space with slowly varying positive potentials. Using the fact that $V<\Lambda_s^2$, where $\Lambda_s(\phi)$ is the species scale, and the emergent string…
We consider scalar-tensor theories of gravity in an accelerating universe. The equations for the background evolution and the perturbations are given in full generality for any parametrization of the Lagrangian, and we stress that apparent…
We study scenarios where a scalar field has a spatially varying vacuum expectation value such that the total field variation is super-Planckian. We focus on the case where the scalar field controls the coupling of a U(1) gauge field, which…
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity modify General Relativity by introducing a scalar field that couples non-minimally to the metric tensor, while satisfying the weak-equivalence principle. These theories are interesting because they have the…
We discuss a generic form of the scalar potential appearing in the geometric scalar theory of gravity. We find the conditions on the potential by considering weak and strong gravity. The modified black hole solutions are obtained for…
We discuss some of the issues which we encounter when we try to invoke the scalar-tensor theories of gravitation as a theoretical basis of quintessence. One of the advantages of appealing to these theories is that they allow us to implement…
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…
Theoretical constraints on the scalar potential of the compact 341 model with three quadruplets scalar fields are discussed. It is shown that, in order to ensure good behavior of the potential and the viability of the model, the criteria…
This paper explores the conditions under which modified gravitational theories admit the positive mass. Following Witten's spinor argument, it is argued that a single condition should be imposed upon a gauge connection in the…
We study the constraints on gravity scale $M_P$ in extra-dimension gravitational theory, obtained from gravity-induced processes. The obtained constraints are subdivided into strong (though not robust) and reliable (though less strong). The…
The positive energy theorem precludes the possibility of Minkowski flat space decaying by any mechanism. In certain circumstances, however, large quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field could arise---not only at the Planck scale,…