Related papers: Positivity bounds from multiple vacua and their co…
Current cosmological data seem to show that dark energy is evolving in time and that it possibly crossed the phantom divide in the past. So far the only theories that lead to such a behavior involve a non-trivial coupling between dark…
Motivated by recent discussions of the string-theory landscape, we propose field-theoretic realizations of models with large numbers of vacua. These models contain multiple U(1) gauge groups, and can be interpreted as deconstructed versions…
We study induced gravity dark energy models coupled with a simple monomial potential $\propto \sigma^n$ and a positive exponent $n$. These simple potentials lead to viable dark energy models with a weak dependence on the exponent, which…
We investigate a string-inspired dark energy scenario featuring a scalar field with a coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant. Such coupling can trigger the onset of late dark energy domination after a scaling matter era. The universe may…
The cosmological constant and the Higgs mass seem unnaturally small and anthropically selected. We show that both can be efficiently scanned in Quantum Field Theories with a large enough number of vacua controllable thanks to approximated…
We study the cosmology of Galileon modified gravity models in the linear perturbation regime. We derive the fully covariant and gauge invariant perturbed field equations using two different methods, which give consistent results, and solve…
Some models within the framework of Gauss-Bonnet gravities are considered in the presence of a non-minimally coupled scalar field. By imposing a particular constraint on the scalar field coupling, an extension of the called…
We use recent measurements of the expansion history of the universe to place constraints on the parameter space of cubic Galileon models, in particular we concentrate on those models which contain the simplest Galileon term plus a linear…
We conjecture an intrinsic UV cutoff for the validity of the effective field theory with a large number of species coupled to gravity. In four dimensions such a UV cutoff takes the form $\Lambda=\sqrt{\lambda/ N}M_p$ for $N$ scalar fields…
We derive the weak field limit of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theory and place novel bounds on the parameter space using terrestrial and space-based experiments. In order to analyze the theory in the context of a wide range of experiments, we…
We consider the so-called "healthy" extension of Horava gravity in the limit where the Stuckelberg field decouples from the graviton. We verify the alleged strong coupling problem in this limit, under the assumption that no large…
It is shown that strongly coupled heterotic M-theory with anti-five-branes in the S^1/Z_2 bulk space can have meta-stable vacua which break N=1 supersymmetry and have a small, positive cosmological constant. This is demonstrated for the…
After reviewing the cosmological constant problem - why is Lambda not huge? - I outline the two basic approaches that had emerged by the late 1980s, and note that each made a clear prediction. Precision cosmological experiments now indicate…
Cosmologies with a time dependent Newton constant and cosmological constant are investigated. The scale dependence of $G$ and $\Lambda$ is governed by a set of renormalization group equations which is coupled to Einstein's equation in a…
Violations of Lorentz (and specifically boost) invariance can make gravity renormalizable in the ultraviolet, as initially noted by Ho\v{r}ava, but are increasingly constrained in the infrared. At low energies, Ho\v{r}ava gravity is…
The cosmological constant problem can be understood as the failure of the decoupling principle behind effective field theory, so that some quantities in the low-energy theory are extremely sensitive to the high-energy properties. While this…
The Galileon model is a modified gravity theory that may provide an explanation for the accelerated expansion of the Universe. This model does not suffer from instabilities or ghost problems (normally associated with higher-order derivative…
We investigate the nonlinear growth of large-scale structure in the generalised Proca theory, in which a self-interacting massive vector field plays the role of driving the acceleration of the cosmic expansion. Focusing to the Proca…
Higher curvature Lovelock gravity theories can have a number of maximally symmetric vacua with different values of the curvature. Critical surfaces in the space of Lovelock couplings separate regions with different numbers of such vacua,…
We revisit the cosmological dynamics of the cubic Galileon model in light of the recently proposed model-independent analyses of the Pantheon supernova data. At the background level, it is shown to be compatible with data and preferred over…