Related papers: Fourth Order Theories Without Ghosts
The first order form of a Maxwell theory and U(1) gauge theory in which a gauge invariant mass term appears is analyzed using the Dirac procedure. The form of the gauge transformation which leaves the action invariant is derived from the…
The almost simultaneous detection of gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst from a neutron star merger has put a tight constraint on the difference between the speed of gravity and light. In the four-dimensional scalar-tensor…
We present an effective four-dimensional formulation of the laws of gravity that respects the main features of a higher (five)-dimensional scenario of Randall-Sundrum type. The geometrical structure of the theory is that of a…
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…
Most existing theories of dark energy and/or modified gravity, involving a scalar degree of freedom, can be conveniently described within the framework of the Effective Theory of Dark Energy, based on the unitary gauge where the scalar…
Changing the set of independent variables of Poincare gauge theory and considering, in a manner similar to the second order formalism of general relativity, the Riemannian part of the Lorentz connection as function of the tetrad field, we…
We calculate the motion of binary mass systems in gravity up to the fourth post--Newtonian order. We use momentum expansions within an effective field theory approach based on Feynman amplitudes in harmonic coordinates by applying…
In this work we investigate the ultraviolet behavior of Euclidean four-derivative quantum gravity beyond perturbation theory. In addition to a perturbative fixed point, we find an ultraviolet fixed point that is non-trivial in all couplings…
When a small, uncharged, compact object is immersed in an external background spacetime, at zeroth order in its mass it moves as a test particle in the background. At linear order, its own gravitational field alters the geometry around it,…
Many theories of modified gravity with higher order derivatives are usually ignored because of serious problems that appear due to an additional ghost degree of freedom. Most dangerously, it causes an immediate decay of the vacuum. However,…
Recent no-go theorems have ruled out four-dimensional classical de Sitter vacua in heterotic string theory. On the other hand, the absence of a well-defined Wilsonian effective action and other related phenomena also appear to rule out such…
A new representation is found for the action of the recently suggested ghost-free nonlocal gravity models generating de Sitter or Anti-de Sitter background with an arbitrary value of the effective cosmological constant. This representation…
Ostrogradsky theorem states that Hamiltonian is unbounded when Euler-Lagrange equations are higher than second-order differential equations under the nondegeneracy assumption. Since higher-order nondegenerate Lagrangian can be always recast…
The antisymmetrization of the composite particles in cluster model calculations manifests itself in Pauli forbidden states (ghost states), if one restricts oneself on undeformed cluster in the low energy region. The resonating group method…
One of the fundamental questions of theoretical cosmology is whether the universe can undergo a non-singular bounce, i.e., smoothly transit from a period of contraction to a period of expansion through violation of the null energy condition…
A ghost free massive deformation of unimodular gravity (UG), in the spirit of {\em mimetic massive gravity}, is shown to exist. This construction avoids the no-go theorem for a Fierz-Pauli type of mass term in UG by giving up on Lorentz…
We study the Horndeski vector-tensor theory that leads to second order equations of motion and contains a non-minimally coupled abelian gauge vector field. This theory is remarkably simple and consists of only 2 terms for the vector field,…
Generic higher derivative theories are believed to be fundamentally unphysical because they contain Ostrogradsky ghosts. We show that within complex classical mechanics it is possible to construct higher derivative theories that circumvent…
A canonical analysis of the Einstein-Hilbert action S_d (d>2) is considered, using the first order form with the metric and affine connection as independent fields. We adopt a conservative approach to using the Dirac constraint formalism;…
We review the status of the fourth-order (quartic in the spacetime curvature) terms induced by superstrings/M-theory (compactified on a warped torus) in the leading order with respect to the Regge slope parameter, and study their…