Related papers: Massive ghost theories with a line of defects
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…
We consider general theories of a massive spin-2 particle $h_{\mu\nu}$ on a Minkowski background. A decomposition of $h_{\mu\nu}$ in terms of helicity eigenstates allows us to directly test whether any given theory possesses a consistent…
We revisit the framework of Newer General Relativity, defined by all independent quadratic invariants of the non-metricity tensor, including the unique quadratic parity-violating term. We analyze linear perturbations around a flat FLRW…
We develop a Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (LPT) framework to study the clustering of cold dark matter (CDM) in cosmologies with massive neutrinos. We follow the trajectories of CDM particles with Lagrangian displacements fields up to…
We find that the recently-proposed ghost-free interaction of a 2-form gauge field in four dimensions, which contains derivative couplings in a nonperturbative manner, can be regarded as a resummation of ghostly interaction terms. We…
We give a basic introduction to ghost-free nonlinear theories involving massive spin-2 fields, focussing on bimetric theory. After motivating the construction of such models from field theoretical considerations, we review the linear…
We perform conformal perturbation theory by marginal operators to first order. A suitable renormalization method is needed that makes the conformal invariance of the deformed correlation functions manifest. Combining the embedding space…
The effective field theory of cosmological perturbations stems from considering a cosmological background solution as a state displaying spontaneous breaking of time translations and (adiabatic) perturbations as the related Nambu-Goldstone…
The large scale fluctuations of the ordered state in active matter systems are usually characterised by studying the "giant number fluctuations" of particles in any finite volume, as compared to the expectations from the central limit…
We discuss aspects of non-perturbative unitarity in quantum field theory. The additional ghost degrees of freedom arising in "truncations" of an effective action at a finite order in derivatives could be fictitious degrees of freedom. Their…
We study the large deviation behaviour of the trajectories of empirical distributions of independent copies of time-homogeneous Feller processes on locally compact metric spaces. Under the condition that we can find a suitable core for the…
Recently a new Lagrangian framework was introduced to describe interactions between scalar fields and relativistic perfect fluids. This allows two consistent generalizations of coupled quintessence models: non-vanishing pressures and a new…
In this work, we investigate radiative corrections in the higher-order extension of the Maxwell-Chern-Simons model coupled to standard spinor matter in $2+1$ dimensions. We begin analyzing the higher-order gauge sector, where we find the…
We present a framework for discussing the cosmology of dark energy and dark matter based on two scalar degrees of freedom. An effective field theory of cosmological perturbations is employed. A unitary gauge choice renders the dark energy…
We discuss the role of higher dimensional operators in the spontaneous breaking of internal symmetry and scale invariance, in the context of the Lorentz invariant scalar field theory. Using the $\varepsilon$-expansion we determine phase…
We analyse large deviations of the dynamical activity in one-dimensional systems of diffusing hard particles. Using an optimal-control representation of the large-deviation problem, we analyse effective interaction forces which can be added…
The universal relations for spin-$1/2$ fermions with contact interaction in the presence of quenched disorder are discussed. The disorder is modeled by a random external potential with the Gaussian distribution and $\delta$-like two-point…
We analyze perturbative aspects of gauged matrix models, including those where classically the gauge symmetry is partially broken. Ghost fields play a crucial role in the Feynman rules for these vacua. We use this formalism to elucidate the…
Theories with higher derivatives involve linear instabilities in the Hamiltonian commonly known as Ostrogradski ghosts and can be viewed as a very serious problem during quantization. To cure {this} , we have considered the properties of…
We consider a massive vector field with derivative interactions that propagates only the 3 desired polarizations (besides two tensor polarizations from gravity) with second-order equations of motion in curved space-time. The cosmological…