Related papers: Gauge Fixing in Higher Derivative Gravity

Conformal fields in flat space-time of even dimension greater than or equal to four are studied. Second-derivative formulation for spin 0,1,2 conformal bosonic fields and first-derivative formulation for spin 1/2,3/2 conformal fermionic…

Gauge-fixing as a sampling procedure of gauge copies provides a possibility to construct well-defined gauges also beyond perturbation theory. The implementation of such sampling strategies in lattice gauge theory is briefly outlined, and…

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…

Interacting theories with higher derivatives involve ghosts. They correspond to instabilities that display themselves at the classical level. We notice that comparatively "benign" mechanical higher-derivative systems exist where the…

Invertible disformal transformations serve as a useful tool to explore ghost-free scalar-tensor theories. In this paper, we construct a generalization of invertible disformal transformations that involves arbitrary higher-order covariant…

We consider a higher-derivative generalization of disformal transformations in $D$-dimensional spacetime and clarify the conditions under which they form a group with respect to the matrix product and the functional composition. These…

We discuss the problem of gauge fixing for the partition function in generalized quantum (or trace) dynamics, deriving analogs of the De Witt-Faddeev-Popov procedure and of the BRST invariance familiar in the functional integral context.

Higher derivative terms in the gravitational action are natural from the perspective of quantum gravity, but are perceived as leading to a lack of well-posedness. The Gauss Bonnet term has second-order equations of motion, but does not…

We give an explicitly gauge invariant canonical analysis of linearized quadratic gravity theories in three dimensions for both flat and de-Sitter backgrounds. In flat backgrounds, we also study the effects of gravitational Chern-Simons…

On the example of topologically massive gauge field theory we find the origin of possible inconsistency of working with gauge fixing terms (together with relevant ghost sector)

We classify all the first-order vertices of gravity consistently coupled to a system of 2-form gauge fields by computing the local BRST cohomology H(s|d) in ghost number 0 and form degree n. The consistent deformations are at most linear in…

Motivated by the apparent dependence of string $\sigma$--models on the sum of spacetime metric and antisymmetric tensor fields, we reconsider gravity theories constructed from a nonsymmetric metric. We first show that all such "geometrical"…

We classify all the six derivative Lagrangians of gravity, whose traced field equations are of second or third order, in arbitrary dimensions. In the former case, the Lagrangian in dimensions greater than six, reduces to an arbitrary linear…

The inclusion of higher derivatives is a necessary condition for a renormalizable or superrenormalizable local theory of quantum gravity. On the other hand, higher derivatives lead to classical instabilities and a loss of unitarity at the…

As in the case of the other gauge field theories, there is so called ``gauge'' also in general relativity. This ``gauge'' is unphysical degree of freedom. There are two kinds of ``gauges'' in general relativity. These are called the first-…

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…

The possibility of having a gauge fixing term in the effective Lagrangian that is not a quadratic expression has been explored in spin-two theories so as to have a propagator that is both traceless and transverse. We first show how this…

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…

The variety of consistent "gauging" deformations of supergravity theories in four dimensions depends on the choice of Lagrangian formulation. One important goal is to get the most general deformations without making hidden assumptions.…

We show that the strong self-interaction of the scalar polarization of a massive graviton can be understood in terms of the propagation of an extra ghost-like degree of freedom, thus relating strong coupling to the sixth degree of freedom…