Related papers: Ghosts, Instabilities, and Superluminal Propagatio…
Perturbation theory for gravity in dimensions greater than two requires higher derivatives in the free action. Higher derivatives seem to lead to ghosts, states with negative norm. We consider a fourth order scalar field theory and show…
In this paper we show how the covariant gauge invariant equations for the evolution of scalar, vector and tensor perturbations for a generic $f(R)$-gravity theory can be recast in order to exploit the power of dynamical system methodology.…
We study cosmological perturbations for a ghost free massive gravity theory formulated with a dynamical extra metric that is needed to massive deform GR. In this formulation FRW background solutions fall in two branches. In the dynamics of…
We investigate the connection between dark energy and fourth order gravity by analyzing the behavior of scalar perturbations around a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker background. The evolution equations for scalar perturbation are derived using…
In the context of f(R) theories of gravity, we study the cosmological evolution of scalar perturbations by using a completely general procedure. We find that the exact fourth-order differential equation for the matter density perturbations…
We study second-order cosmological perturbations in scalar-tensor models of dark energy that satisfy local gravity constraints, including f(R) gravity. We derive equations for matter fluctuations under a sub-horizon approximation and…
The beyond-generalized Proca theories are the extension of second-order massive vector-tensor theories (dubbed generalized Proca theories) with two transverse vector modes and one longitudinal scalar besides two tensor polarizations. Even…
We discuss the presence of ghostly instabilities for metric-affine theories constructed with higher order curvature terms. We mainly focus on theories containing only the Ricci tensor and show the crucial role played by the projective…
We consider small perturbations about homogeneous backgrounds in dilatationally-invariant Galileon models. The issues we address are stability (absence of ghosts and gradient instabilities) and superluminality. We show that in Minkowski…
We perform a linear stability analysis of dynamical, quadratic gravity in the high-frequency, geometric optics approximation. This analysis is based on a study of gravitational and scalar modes propagating on spherically-symmetric and…
In the context of Lorentz-invariant massive gravity we show that classical solutions around heavy sources are plagued by ghost instabilities. The ghost shows up in the effective field theory at huge distances from the source, much bigger…
We review how the (absence of) Ostrogradsky instability manifests itself in theories with multiple fields. It has recently been appreciated that when multiple fields are present, the existence of higher derivatives may not automatically…
We present a new approach to gauge-invariant cosmological perturbations at second order, which is also covariant. We examine two cases in particular for a dust Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker model of any curvature: we investigate…
The review is devoted to consideration of possible observational consequences of modified gravity theories, suggested for explanation of the contemporary accelerated expansion of the universe. The major attention is paid to F(R)-models. It…
Massive vector fields feature in several areas of particle physics, e.g., as carriers of weak interactions, dark matter candidates, or as an effective description of photons in a plasma. Here we investigate vector fields with…
We reconsider the issue of superluminal propagation in the DGP model of infrared modified gravity. Superluminality was argued to exist in certain otherwise physical backgrounds by using a particular, physically relevant scaling limit of the…
We show that generalized gravity theories involving the curvature invariants of the Ricci tensor and the Riemann tensor as well as the Ricci scalar are equivalent to multi- scalar-tensor gravities with four derivatives terms. By expanding…
In the context of f(R,T) theories of gravity, we study the evolution of scalar cosmological perturbations in the metric formalism. According to restrictions on the background evolution, a specific model within these theories is assumed in…
We propose a novel class of degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor theories as an extension of mimetic gravity. By performing a noninvertible conformal transformation on "seed" scalar-tensor theories which may be nondegenerate, we can…
The study of linear perturbation theory for general functions of the Ricci and Gauss-Bonnet scalars is done over an empty anisotropic universe, i.e. the Kasner-type background, in order to show that an anisotropic background in general has…