Related papers: Generalised scalar-tensor theories and self-tuning
We consider alternative theories of gravity with a direct coupling between matter and the Ricci scalar We study the relation between these theories and ordinary scalar-tensor gravity, or scalar-tensor theories which include non-standard…
We show that the scalar-tensor $\sigma$-model action is conformally equivalent to general relativity with a minimally coupled wavemap with a particular target metric. Inflation on the source manifold is then shown to occur in a natural way…
We investigate some cosmological consequences of a vector-tensor theory where an Abelian symmetry in the vector sector is slightly broken by a mass term and by ghost-free derivative self-interactions. When studying cosmological expansion in…
In this work, we seek a cosmological mechanism that may define the sign of the effective gravitational coupling constant, {\em G}. To this end, we consider general scalar-tensor gravity theories as they provide the field theory natural…
We have recently proposed a simple relativistic theory which reduces to modified Newtonian dynamics for the weak-field quasistatic situations applied to galaxies, and to cosmological behavior as in the $\Lambda$CDM model, yielding a…
The scalar-tensor theory of gravitation has been and still is one of the most widely discussed "alternative theories" to General Relativity (GR). Despite nearly half a century of its age, it continues to attract renewed interests of not…
We consider the hypothesis of a limiting minimal curvature in gravity as a way to construct a class of theories exhibiting late-time cosmic acceleration. Guided by the minimal curvature conjecture (MCC) we are naturally lead to a set of…
Recently, it was proposed that a small true vacuum universe can inflate spontaneously, in principle. Furthermore, there should be matter creation in vacuum inflation due to quantum fluctuations, and the matter created will influence the…
Several results related to flat Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker models in the conformal (Einstein) frame of scalar-tensor gravity theories are extended. Scalar fields with arbitrary (positive) potentials and arbitrary coupling…
We investigate scalar-tensor theories where matter couples to the scalar field via a kinetically dependent conformal coupling. These models can be seen as the low-energy description of invariant field theories under a global Abelian…
A dynamical resolution to the cosmological constant fine-tuning problem has been previously put forward, based on a scalar-tensor gravitational theory possessing de Sitter attractor solutions characterized by a small Hubble expansion rate,…
An exact de Sitter solution of scalar-tensor gravity is found, in which the non-minimal coupling scalar is rolling along a non-constant potential. Based on this solution, a dust-filled FRW universe is explored in frame of scalar-tensor…
We present a broad and simple class of scalar-tensor scenarios that successfully realize dynamical damping of the effective cosmological constant, therefore providing a viable dynamical solution to the fine-tuning or "old" cosmological…
We use neutron star mass and radius measurements to constrain the spontaneous scalarization phenomenon in scalar-tensor theories using Bayesian analysis. Neutron star structures in this scenario can be significantly different from the case…
In scalar-tensor theories of gravity, the equation of state of dark energy, w, can become smaller than -1 without violating any energy condition. The value of w today is tied to the level of deviations from general relativity which, in…
We study the possibility that a generalised real scalar field minimally coupled to gravity could explain both the galactic and the cosmological dark components of the universe. Within the framework of Einstein's Relativity we model static…
A scalar-tensor theory of gravity is formulated in which $G$ and particle masses are allowed to vary. The theory yields a globally static cosmological model with no evolutionary timescales, no cosmological coincidences, and no flatness and…
We investigate the cosmological dynamics in teleparallel gravity with nonminimal coupling. We analytically extract several asymptotic solutions and we numerically study the exact phase-space behavior. Comparing the obtained results with the…
We discuss scalar-tensor cosmology with an extra $R^{-1}$ correction by the Noether Symmetry Approach. The existence of such a symmetry selects the forms of the coupling $\omega(\phi)$, of the potential $V(\phi)$ and allows to obtain…
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…