Related papers: Bound States in Scalar Theory with Fourth-order De…
For a delta-correlated velocity field, simultaneous correlation functions of a passive scalar satisfy closed equations. We analyze the equation for the four-point function. To describe a solution completely, one has to solve the matching…
Using the Dirac constraint method we show that the pure fourth-order Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator model is free of observable negative norm states. Even though such ghosts do appear when the fourth order theory is coupled to a second order…
Linearized four-derivative gravity with a general gauge fixing term is considered. By a Legendre transform and a suitable diagonalization procedure it is cast into a second-order equivalent form where the nature of the physical degrees of…
We suggest and briefly review a new sort of superrenormalizable models of higher derivative quantum gravity. The higher derivative terms in the action can be introduced in such a way that all the unphysical massive states have complex…
The two-dimensional ghost systems with negative integral central charge received much attention in the last years for their role in a number of applications and in connection with logarithmic conformal field theory. We consider the free…
General Relativity (GR) is an effective field theory valid in the infrared regime. Quadratic curvature extensions intended to probe ultraviolet physics generically propagate a massive spin-$2$ ghost and are therefore non-unitary. One route…
We consider a massive scalar field theory in anti-de Sitter space, in both minimally and non-minimally coupled cases. We introduce a relevant double-trace perturbation at the boundary, by carefully identifying the correct source and…
Adding terms quadratic in the curvature to the Einstein-Hilbert action renders gravity renormalizable. This property is preserved in the presence of the most general renormalizable couplings with (and of) a generic quantum field theory…
We review the history of the ghost problem in quantum field theory from the Pauli-Villars regulator theory to currently popular fourth-order derivative quantum gravity theories. While these theories all appear to have unitarity-violating…
The cosmological constant problem and the compatibility of gravity with quantum mechanics are the two most pressing problems in all of gravitational theory. While string theory nicely addresses the latter, it has so far failed to provide…
In 4D renormalisable theories, integrating out massive states generates in the low energy effective action higher dimensional operators (derivative or otherwise). Using a superfield language it is shown that a 4D N=1 supersymmetric theory…
We consider Modified Gravity models involving inverse powers of fourth-order curvature invariants. Using these models' equivalence to the theory of a scalar field coupled to a linear combination of the invariants, we investigate the…
We discuss aspects of non-perturbative unitarity in quantum field theory. The additional ghost degrees of freedom arising in "truncations" of an effective action at a finite order in derivatives could be fictitious degrees of freedom. Their…
We revisit the Scalar Weak Gravity Conjecture and investigate the possibility to impose that scalar interactions dominate over gravitational ones. More precisely, we look for consequences of assuming that, for leading scalar interactions,…
We discuss a very general theory of gravity, of which Lagrangian is an arbitrary function of the curvature invariants, on the brane. In general, the formulation of the junction conditions (except for Euler characteristics such as…
Recent progress seems to suggest that one must modify General Relativity (GR) to stably violate the null energy condition and avoid the cosmological singularity. However, with the higher-order derivative operators of scalar field (a…
A scalar field theory with 4-derivative kinetic terms and 4-derivative cubic and quartic couplings is presented as a proxy for quantum quadratic gravity (QQG). The scalar theory is renormalizable and asymptotically free and the remaining…
We perform a fully relativistic analysis of odd-type linear perturbations around a static and spherically symmetric solution in the most general scalar-tensor theory with second-order field equations in four-dimensional spacetime. It is…
We extend the four-dimensional de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley (dRGT) massive gravity model to a general scalar massive-tensor theory in arbitrary dimensions, coupling a dRGT massive graviton to multiple scalars and allowing for generic kinetic…
Theories with infinite volume extra dimensions open exciting opportunities for particle physics. We argued recently that along with attractive features there are phenomenological difficulties in this class of models. In fact, there is no…