Related papers: Fourth Order Theories Without Ghosts
We construct a fully covariant theory of massive gravity which does not require the introduction of an external reference metric, and overcomes the usual problems of massive gravity theories (fatal ghosts instabilities, acausality and/or…
Shortcomings of Dirac's constrained analysis in the context of fourth order Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator action and the appearance of badly affected phase-space Hamiltonian for a generalized fourth order oscillator action, following…
A panoramic overview is given, of a theorem [1] establishing physical and uniform bounds on the Fourier-transformed Schwinger functions of a massless phi^4 theory in four Euclidean dimensions, at any loop order in perturbation theory.
Theories with fourth-order derivatives, including the Lee-Wick finite QED model and Quadratic Gravity, have a better UV behaviour, but the presence of negative metric ghost modes endanger unitarity. Noticing that the ghost acquires a…
Through use of the Pauli-Villars regulator procedure we construct a second- plus fourth-order-derivative theory of gravity that serves as an ultraviolet completion of standard second-order-derivative quantum Einstein gravity that is…
A fourth-order theory of gravity is considered which in terms of dynamics has the same degrees of freedom and number of constraints as those of scalar-tensor theories. In addition it admits a canonical point-like Lagrangian description. We…
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…
We present a new understanding of the unstable ghost-like resonance which appears in theories such as quadratic gravity and Lee-Wick type theories. Quantum corrections make this resonance unstable, such that it does not appear in the…
We propose and study a new first order version of the ghost-free massive gravity. Instead of metrics or tetrads, it uses a connection together with Plebanski's chiral 2-forms as fundamental variables, rendering the phase space structure…
On an explicit example of the Siegel superparticle we study an alternative to the harmonic superspace approach. The latter seems to be the only method for quantizing infinitely reducible first class constraints currently available. In an…
The classical motion of spinning particles can be described without employing Grassmann variables or Clifford algebras, but simply by generalizing the usual spinless theory. We only assume the invariance with respect to the Poincare' group;…
Runaway solutions can be avoided in fourth order gravity by a doubling of the matter operator algebra with a symmetry constraint with respect to the exchange of observable and hidden degrees of freedom together with the change in sign of…
Recently, using a local action satisfying the Wess-Zumino condition as a kinetic term of the conformal mode, we formulated a four-dimensional quantum geometry (4DQG). The conformal mode can be treated exactly, and it was shown that the part…
We investigate the Pais-Uhlenbeck (PU) model, a paradigmatic example of a higher time-derivative theory, by identifying the Lie symmetries of its associated fourth-order dynamical equation. Exploiting these symmetries in conjunction with…
We systematically construct ghost-free higher-derivative actions of Abelian vector supermultiplets in four-dimensional ${\cal N}=1$ global supersymmetric theories. After giving a simple example which illustrates that a naive introduction of…
The Nine-Year WMAP results combined with other cosmological data seem to indicate an enhanced favor for the phantom regime, comparing to previous analyses. This behavior, unless reversed by future observational data, suggests to consider…
The gravitational collapse in fourth order theories of gravity defined by an arbitrary action of the scalar curvature shows significant deviations with General Relativity. The presence of a new scalar mode produces a higher initial…
Negative kinetic energies correspond to ghost degrees of freedom, which are potentially of relevance for cosmology, quantum gravity, and high energy physics. We present a novel wide class of stable mechanical systems where a positive energy…
The ghost free massive gravity modified Friedmann equations at cosmic scale and provided an explanation of cosmic acceleration without dark energy. We analyzed the cosmological solutions of the massive gravity in detail and confronted the…
We consider the fourth-order differential theory of gravitation to treat the problem of singularity avoidance: studying the short-distance behaviour in the case of black-holes and the big-bang we are going to see a way to attack the issue…