Related papers: Ghost Equations and Diffeomorphism Invariant Theor…
We investigate the stability against inhomogeneous perturbations and the appearance of ghost modes in Gauss-Bonnet gravitational theories with a non-minimally coupled scalar field, which can be regarded as either the dilaton or a…
This thesis consists of three parts. In the first part we review the quantization of Yang-Mills theories and perturbative quantum gravity in curved spacetime. In the second part we calculate the Feynman propagators of the Faddeev-Popov…
Covariant (Lorentz invariant) fracton matter, minimally coupled and charged under a symmetric rank two gauge tensor, is considered. The gauge transformations correspond to linearized longitudinal diffeomorphisms. Consistent possible…
Certain off-diagonal vacuum and nonvacuum configurations in Einstein gravity can mimic physical effects of modified gravitational theories of $ f(R,T,R_{\mu\nu}T^{\mu\nu})$ type. We prove this statement by constructing exact and approximate…
We explore the ultra-relativistic limit of a class of four dimensional gravity theories, known as Lovelock-Cartan gravities, in the first order formalism. First, we review the well known limit of the Einstein-Hilbert action. A very useful…
In the Faddeev formulation of gravity, the metric is regarded as composite field, bilinear of $d = 10$ 4-vector fields. A unique feature is that this formulation admits the discontinuous fields. On the discrete level, when spacetime is…
It is shown by an explicit calculation that the excitations about the self-accelerating cosmological solution of the Dvali--Gabadaze--Porrati model contain a ghost mode. This raises serious doubts about viability of this solution. Our…
We discuss new models of an `affine' theory of gravity in multidimensional space-times with symmetric connections. We use and develop ideas of Weyl, Eddington, and Einstein, in particular, Einstein's proposal to specify the space - time…
It is generally believed that a full-fledged theory of quantum gravity should exhibit background independence and diffeomorphism invariance. In its most general form, the latter comprises field redefinitions, which are diffeomorphisms in…
The renormalization group flow of unimodular quantum gravity is computed by taking into account the graviton and Faddeev-Popov ghosts anomalous dimensions. In this setting, a ultraviolet attractive fixed point is found. Symmetry-breaking…
We show the exact equality of the path integral of the general renormalizable fourth order gravitational action to the path integral of the Einstein action coupled to a massive spin-0 field and a massive spin-2 ghost-like field with…
Einstein Gravity in 2+1 dimensions arises as a consequence of the equations of motion of a gauge model in an external metric. Newton's constant appears as an order parameter of a spontaneously broken discrete symmetry. Matter is coupled in…
Unimodular gravity (UG) is an interesting theory that may explain why the cosmological constant is extremely small, in contrast to general relativity (GR). The theory has only the transverse diffeomorphism invariance and this causes lots of…
We report a new internal gauge symmetry of the n-dimensional Palatini action with cosmological term (n>3) that is the generalization of three-dimensional local translations. This symmetry is obtained through the direct application of the…
Dark matter is one of the deepest mystery of the universe. So far there is no natural explanation why the dark matter should exist and even dominate the universe. In this paper, we begin with a 3+1D topological gravity theory which is super…
The different roles and natures of spacetime appearing in a quantum field theory and in classical physics are analyzed implying that a quantum theory of gravitation is not necessarily a quantum theory of curved spacetime. Developing an…
It is well known that the Einstein-Hilbert action in two dimensions is topological and yields an identically vanishing Einstein tensor. Consequently one is faced with difficulties when formulating a non-trivial gravity model. We present a…
5D superconformal theories involve vacuum valleys characterized in the simplest case by the vacuum expectation value of a real scalar field. If it is nonzero, conformal invariance is spontaneously broken and the theory is not…
We review some of the recent results which can be useful for better understanding of the problem of stability of vacuum and in general classical solutions in higher derivative quantum gravity. The fourth derivative terms in the purely…
The Hamiltonian formalism of the generalized unimodular gravity theory, which was recently suggested as a model of dark energy, is shown to be a complicated example of constrained dynamical system. The set of its canonical constraints has a…