Related papers: Generalised scalar-tensor theories and self-tuning
We show that the spontaneous scalarization scenario in scalar-tensor theories is a specific case of a more general phenomenon. The key fact is that the instability causing the spontaneous growth in scalars is due to the nonminimal coupling…
It is known that the cosmological constant can be dynamically tuned to an arbitrary small value in classes of scalar tensor theories. The trouble with such schemes is that effective gravity itself vanishes. We explore the possibility of…
Gravitational theories with multiple scalar fields coupled to the metric and each other --- a natural extension of the well studied single-scalar-tensor theories --- are interesting phenomenological frameworks to describe deviations from…
We consider the backreaction problem of a quantized minimally coupled massless scalar field in cosmology. The adiabatically regularized stress-energy tensor in a general Friedmann-Robertson-Walker background is approximately evaluated by…
Recently the global variation of the Planck mass in the General Relativistic Einstein-Hilbert action was proposed as a self-tuning mechanism of the cosmological constant preventing vacuum energy from freely gravitating. We show that this…
We present a framework for nonlinearly coupled scalar-tensor theory of gravity to address both inflation and core-collapse supernova problems. The unified approach is based on a novel dynamical trapping and relaxation of scalar gravity in…
Tensor-scalar theory is a wide class of alternative theory of gravitation that can be motivated by higher dimensional theories, by models of dark matter or dark ernergy. In the general case, the scalar field will couple non-universally to…
A general scalar-tensor theory of gravity carries a conserved current for a trace free minimally coupled scalar field, under the condition that the potential $V(\phi)$ of the nonminimally coupled scalar field is proportional to the square…
In a subclass of scalar-tensor theories, it has been shown that standard general relativity solutions of neutron stars and black holes with trivial scalar field profiles are unstable. Such an instability leads to solutions which are…
We study the large-scale structure formation in the Universe in the frame of scalar-tensor theories as an alternative to general relativity. We review briefly the Newtonian limit of non-minimally coupled scalar-tensor theories and the…
The discovery of cosmic acceleration motivated extensive studies of dynamical dark energy and modified gravity models. Of particular interest are the scalar-tensor theories, with a scalar field dark energy non-minimally coupled to matter.…
We study the qualitative properties of cosmological models in scalar-tensor theories of gravity by exploiting the formal equivalence of these theories with general relativity minimally coupled to a scalar field under a conformal…
We describe scalar-bimetric theories where the dynamics of the Universe are governed by two separate metrics, each with an Einstein-Hilbert term. In this setting, the baryonic and dark matter components of the Universe couple to metrics…
In this essay we propose that the theory of gravity's vacuum is described by a de Sitter geometry. Under this assumption we consider an adjustment mechanism able to screen any value of the vacuum energy of the matter fields. We discuss the…
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,…
The dynamical consequences of a bimetric scalar-tensor theory of gravity with a dynamical light speed are investigated in a cosmological setting. The model consists of a minimally-coupled self-gravitating scalar field coupled to ordinary…
We examine an approach to cosmology, known as Well-Tempering, that allows for a de Sitter phase whose expansion is independent of the cosmological constant. Starting from a generic scalar-tensor theory compatible with the recent…
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…
Cosmological soft theorems (or consistency relations) provide a powerful probe for the physics of inflation. These relations rely on minimal assumptions and hold very generally. Consequently, any violation of these relations would rule out…
The existence and the stability conditions for some exact relativistic solutions of special interest are studied in a higher-order modified teleparallel gravitational theory. The theory with the use of a Lagrange multiplier is equivalent…