We study certain bi-scalar-tensor theories emanating from conformal symmetry requirements of Horndeski's four-dimensional action. The former scalar is a Galileon with shift symmetry whereas the latter scalar is adjusted to have a higher order conformal coupling. Employing technics from local Weyl geometry certain Galileon higher order terms are thus constructed to be conformally invariant. The combined shift and partial conformal symmetry of the action, allow us to construct exact black hole solutions. The black holes initially found are of planar horizon geometry embedded in anti de Sitter space and can accommodate electric charge. The conformally coupled scalar comes with an additional independent charge and it is well-defined on the horizon whereas additional regularity of the Galileon field is achieved allowing for time dependence. Guided by our results in adS space-time we then consider a higher order version of the BBMB action and construct asymptotically flat, regular, hairy black holes. The addition of the Galileon field is seen to cure the BBMB scalar horizon singularity while allowing for the presence of primary scalar hair seen as an independent integration constant along-side the mass of the black hole.
We study the initial value problem for Lovelock and Horndeski theories of gravity. We show that the equations of motion of these theories can be written in a form that, at weak coupling, is strongly hyperbolic and therefore admits a well-posed initial value problem. This is achieved by introducing a new class of "modified harmonic" gauges for general relativity.
We analyze the mode stability of odd-parity perturbations of black holes with linearly time-dependent scalar hair in shift-symmetric Horndeski theories. We show that a large class of black hole solutions in these theories suffer from ghost or gradient instability, while there are some classes of solutions that are stable under linear odd-parity perturbations in the context of mode analysis.
We study spherically symmetric gravitational collapse in cubic Horndeski theories of gravity. By varying the coupling constants and the initial amplitude of the scalar field, we determine the region in the space of couplings and amplitudes for which it is possible to construct global solutions to the Horndeski theories. Furthermore, we identify the regime of validity of effective field theory as the sub-region for which a certain weak field condition remains small at all times. We evolve the initial data using the CCZ4 formulation of the Einstein equations and horizon penetrating coordinates w…
Recently, a no inner (Cauchy) horizon theorem for static black holes with non-trivial scalar hairs has been proved in Einstein-Maxwell-scalar theories. In this paper, we extend the theorem to the static black holes in Einstein-Maxwell-Horndeski theories. We study the black hole interior geometry for some exact solutions and find that the spacetime has a (space-like) curvature singularity where the black hole mass gets an extremum and the Hawking temperature vanishes. We discuss further extensions of the theorem, including general Horndeski theories from disformal transformations.
We study black hole binary mergers in certain cubic Horndeski theories of gravity, treating them fully non-linearly. In the regime of validity of effective field theory, the mismatch of the gravitational wave strain between Horndeski and general relativity (coupled to a scalar field) can be as large as $10-13\%$ in the Advanced LIGO mass range. The initial data and coupling constants are chosen such the theory remains in the weakly coupled regime throughout the evolution. In all cases that we have explored, we observe that the waveform in the Horndeski theory is shifted by an amount much large…
We consider a generic scalar-tensor theory involving a shift-symmetric scalar field and minimally coupled matter fields. We prove that the Noether current associated with shift-symmetry vanishes in regular, spherically symmetric and static spacetimes. We use this fact to prove the absence of scalar hair for spherically symmetric and static stars in Horndeski and beyond theories. We carefully detail the validity of this no-hair theorem.
In this note we collect, systemise and generalise the existing results for relations between general Horndeski theories and beyond Horndeski theories via disformal transformations of metric. We derive additional disformal transformation rules relating Lagrangian functions of beyond Horndeski theory and corresponding Horndeski theory and demonstrate that some of them become singular at some moments(s) once one constructs a non-singular cosmological solution in beyond Horndeski theory that is free from ghost, gradient instabilities and strong gravity regime during the entire evolution of the sys…
We review and discuss some recent progress in Lovelock and Horndeski theories modifying Einstein's General Relativity. Using as our guide the uniqueness properties of these modified gravity theories we then discuss how Kaluza-Klein reduction of Lovelock theory can lead to effective scalar-tensor actions including several important terms of Horndeski theory. We show how this can be put to practical use by mapping analytic black hole solutions of one theory to the other. We then elaborate on the subset of Horndeski theory that has self-tuning properties and review a generic method giving scalar-…
The vector-tensor Horndeski theory is supplemented by a real, massless scalar field non-minimally coupled to the Horndeski interaction term. The generic dyonic Reissner-Nordstrom solutions characterized by electric and magnetic charges, acquire an instability and bifurcate into electromagnetically charged solutions presenting an horizon and a cloud of scalar hairs at specific values of the non-minimal coupling constant. These hairy black holes are studied in terms of the physical parameters of the model and the critical phenomena limiting their domain of existence are discussed.
We investigate local well-posedness of the initial value problem for Lovelock and Horndeski theories of gravity. A necessary condition for local well-posedness is strong hyperbolicity of the equations of motion. Even weak hyperbolicity can fail for strong fields so we restrict to weak fields. The Einstein equation is known to be strongly hyperbolic in harmonic gauge so we study Lovelock theories in harmonic gauge. We show that the equation of motion is always weakly hyperbolic for weak fields but, in a generic weak-field background, it is not strongly hyperbolic. For Horndeski theories, we pro…
In this work we have investigated various properties of a spinning gyroscope in the context of Horndeski theories. In particular, we have focused on two specific situations --- (a) when the gyroscope follows a geodesic trajectory and (b) when it is endowed with an acceleration. In both these cases, besides developing the basic formalism, we have also applied the same to understand the motion of a spinning gyroscope in various static and spherically symmetric spacetimes pertaining to Horndeski theories. Starting with the Schwarzschild de-Sitter spacetime as a warm up exercise, we have presented…
We study the nature of constraints and the Hamiltonian structure in a scalar-tensor theory of gravity recently proposed by Gleyzes, Langlois, Piazza and Vernizzi (GLPV). For the simple case with A_5 = 0, namely when the canonical momenta conjugate to the spatial metric are linear in the extrinsic curvature, we prove that the number of physical degrees of freedom is three at fully nonlinear level, as claimed by GLPV. Therefore, while this theory extends Horndeski's scalar-tensor gravity theory, it is protected against additional degrees of freedom.
We constrain the viable models of Horndeski gravity, written in its equivalent Generalised Galileon version, by resorting to the Witten positive energy theorem. We find that the free function $G_3(ϕ, X)$ in the Lagrangian is constrained to be a function solely of the scalar field, $G_3(ϕ)$, and relations among the free functions are found. Other criterion for stability are also analysed, such as the attractiveness of gravity, the Dolgov-Kawasacki instability and the energy conditions. Some applications for Cosmology are discussed
We extend to the Horndeski realm the irreversible thermodynamics description of gravity previously studied in "first generation" scalar-tensor theories. We identify a subclass of Horndeski theories as an out-of--equilibrium state, while general relativity corresponds to an equilibrium state. In this context, we identify an effective heat current, "temperature of gravity", and shear viscosity in the space of theories. The identification is accomplished by recasting the field equations as effective Einstein equations with an effective dissipative fluid, with Einstein gravity as the equilibrium s…
We consider disformal transformations in a subclass of Horndeski theory in which a scalar field is kinetically coupled to the Einstein tensor. We apply a disformal transformation on a seed hairy black hole solution of this theory and we show that there is a transition of a black hole to a wormhole. We also show that the null energy condition is violated in the wormhole configuration and we study the stability of the wormhole solution by calculating the time evolution of scalar perturbations in this geometry.
We have discovered a new type of scalarized charged black holes in a surprisingly simple system: an Einstein-Maxwell-Klein-Gordon field theory where the three fields couple non-minimally through a Horndeski vector-tensor term. In addition to hairy charged black holes, this system exhibits Horndeski-Reissner-Nordstrom solutions and ordinary Reissner-Nordstrom ones which bifurcate to the scalarized solutions. There exist also vector-tensor black hole solutions which possess central curvature singularities although their metric components are finite there, and also solutions with naked singularit…
Shift-symmetric Horndeski theories admit an interesting class of Schwarzschild black hole solutions exhibiting time-dependent scalar hair. By making use of Lemaître coordinates, we analyze perturbations around these types of black holes, and demonstrate that scalar perturbations around black hole backgrounds inevitably have gradient instabilities. Taken together with previously established results, this newly-discovered instability rules out black holes with time-dependent scalar hair in Horndeski theories.
We discuss two spherically symmetric solutions admitted by the Horndeski (or scalar tensor) theory in the context of solar system and astrophysical scenarios. One of these solutions is derived for Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, while the other originates from the coupling of the Gauss-Bonnet invariant with a scalar field. Specifically, we discuss the perihelion precession and the bending angle of light for these two different spherically symmetric spacetimes derived in references \cite{Maeda:2006hj} and \cite{Sotiriou:2014pfa} respectively. The later in particular, applies only to the black ho…
The scalar particle production through a scalar field non-minimally coupled with geometry is investigated in the context of a spatially homogeneous and isotropic universe. In this paper, in order to study the evolution of particle production over time in the case of analytical solutions, we focus on a simple Horndeski theory. We first suppose that the universe is dominated by a scalar field and derive the energy conservation condition. Then from the thermodynamic point of view, the macroscopic non-conservation of the scalar field energy-momentum tensor can be explained as an irreversible produ…
We review different constructions of Galileon theories in both flat and curved space, and for both single scalar field models as well as multi-field models. Our main emphasis is on the formal mathematical properties of these theories and their construction.
The Kerr-Schild-Kundt (KSK) metrics are known to be one of the universal metrics in general relativity, which means that they solve the vacuum field equations of any gravity theory constructed from the curvature tensor and its higher-order covariant derivatives. There is yet no complete proof that these metrics are universal in the presence of matter fields such as electromagnetic and/or scalar fields. In order to get some insight into what happens when we extend the "universality theorem" to the case in which the electromagnetic field is present, as a first step, we study the KSK class of met…
Recently it was pointed out that in shift-symmetric scalar-tensor theories a black hole can have nontrivial scalar hair which depends linearly on time. We develop black hole perturbation theory for such solutions and compute the quadratic action of odd-parity perturbations. We show that around all the solutions known so far with such time-dependent scalar hair the perturbations trigger instabilities or are presumably strongly coupled.
The Einstein-Hilbert action with a cosmological constant is the most general local four-dimensional action leading to second-order derivative equations of motion that are symmetric and divergence free. In higher dimensions, additional terms can appear. We investigate a generalised metric decomposition involving a scalar degree of freedom to express the higher-dimensional action as an effective four-dimensional scalar-tensor theory. From the higher-dimensional Ricci scalar alone and a subclass of our metric ansatz, we recover the subset of Horndeski theories with luminal speed of gravitational …
We construct a large class of explicit, asymptotically flat and regular wormhole solutions in higher order scalar tensor theories. The solutions are vacuum solutions of scalar tensor theory and no matter (exotic or regular) is introduced in order to support them. They are constructed via a general disformal transformation of a seed black hole solution. The seed solutions belong to a particular Horndeski theory which requires the presence of all extended Galileons and has a higher dimensional Lovelock origin. As a result, the resulting wormholes are always solutions of general beyond Horndeski …
Invertible disformal transformations are a useful tool to investigate ghost-free scalar-tensor theories. By performing a higher-derivative generalization of the invertible disformal transformation on Horndeski theories, we construct a novel class of ghost-free scalar-tensor theories, which we dub generalized disformal Horndeski theories. Specifically, these theories lie beyond the quadratic/cubic DHOST class. We explore cosmological perturbations to identify a subclass where gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light and clarify the conditions for the absence of ghost/gradient instabi…
We study a "classical" bouncing scenario in beyond Horndeski theory. We give an example of spatially flat bouncing solution that is non-singular and stable throughout the whole evolution. The model is arranged in such a way that the scalar field driving the cosmological evolution initially behaves like full-fledged beyond Horndeski, whereas at late times it becomes a massless scalar field minimally coupled to gravity.
We review black hole and star solutions for Horndeski theory. For non-shift symmetric theories, black holes involve a Kaluza-Klein reduction of higher dimensional Lovelock solutions. On the other hand, for shift symmetric theories of Horndeski and beyond Horndeski, black holes involve two classes of solutions: those that include, at the level of the action, a linear coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet term and those that involve time dependence in the galileon field. We analyze the latter class in detail for a specific subclass of Horndeski theory, discussing the general solution of a static and sphe…
We have recently proposed a new class of gravitational scalar-tensor theories free from Ostrogradski instabilities, in arXiv:1404.6495. As they generalize Horndeski theories, or "generalized" galileons, we call them G$^3$. These theories possess a simple formulation when the time hypersurfaces are chosen to coincide with the uniform scalar field hypersurfaces. We confirm that they contain only three propagating degrees of freedom by presenting the details of the Hamiltonian formulation. We examine the coupling between these theories and matter. Moreover, we investigate how they transform under…
It has been observed that for black holes in certain family of Horndeski gravity theories Wald's entropy formula does not lead to the correct first law for black hole thermodynamics. For this family of Horndeski theories speeds of propagation of gravitons and photons are in general different and gravitons move on an effective metric different than the one seen by photons. We show that the temperature of the black hole should be modified from surface gravity over $2π$ to include effects of this effective metric. The modified temperature, with the entropy unambiguously computed by the solution p…
We study the superradiance effect in a class of scalar-tensor Horndeski theory. We first study the dynamics of a massive charged scalar wave scattered off the horizon of a Reissner-Nordström black hole which except its canonical coupling to gravity it is also coupled kinetically to curvature. We find that a trapping potential is formed outside the horizon of a Reissner-Nordström black hole, due to this coupling, and as the strength of the new coupling is increased, the scattered wave is superradiantly amplified, resulting to the instability of the Reissner-Nordström spacetime. We then consider…
The Horndeski theories are extended into the Lovelock gravity theory. When the canonical scalar field is uniquely kinetically coupled to the Lovelock tensors, it is named after Lovelock scalar field. The Lovelock scalar field model is a subclass of the new Horndeski theories. A most attractive feature of the Lovelock scalar field is its equation of motion is second order. So it is free of ghosts. We study the cosmology of Lovelock scalar field in the background of $7$ dimensional spacetime and present a class of cosmic solutions. These solutions reveal the physics of the scalar field is rather…
We analyse in all generality beyond Horndeski theories of shift symmetry in a static and spherically symmetric spacetime. By introducing four auxiliary functions, we write the field equations in a particularly compact form. We show that assuming additionally parity symmetry renders the system directly integrable giving multiple families of black-hole solutions. These have typically an asymptotically-flat Reissner-Nordstrom behaviour, and emerge in the presence of a canonical kinetic term for the scalar field. In the absence of parity symmetry, we present a general method which allows us to int…
We present all scalar-tensor Lagrangians that are cubic in second derivatives of a scalar field, and that are degenerate, hence avoiding Ostrogradsky instabilities. Thanks to the existence of constraints, they propagate no more than three degrees of freedom, despite having higher order equations of motion. We also determine the viable combinations of previously identified quadratic degenerate Lagrangians and the newly established cubic ones. Finally, we study whether the new theories are connected to known scalar-tensor theories such as Horndeski and beyond Horndeski, through conformal or disf…
We study spherically symmetric solutions with a scalar field in the shift-symmetric subclass of the Horndeski theory. Constructing an effective energy-momentum tensor of the scalar field based on the two-fluid model, we decompose the scalar field into two components: dark matter and dark energy.We find the dark-matter fluid is pressure-less, and its distribution of energy density obeys the inverse-square law. We show the scalar field dark matter can explain the galaxy rotation curve and discuss the time evolution of the dark matter in the cosmic background.
We consider the possible signatures of a recently introduced class of healthy theories beyond Horndeski models on higher-order correlators of the inflationary curvature fluctuation. Despite the apparent large number and complexity of the cubic interactions, we show that the leading-order bispectrum generated by the Generalized Horndeski (also called $G^3$) interactions can be reduced to a linear combination of two well known $k$-inflationary shapes. We conjecture that said behavior is not an accident of the cubic order but a consequence dictated by the requirements on the absence of Ostrograds…
Theories with higher order time derivatives generically suffer from ghost-like instabilities, known as Ostrogradski instabilities. This fate can be avoided by considering "degenerate" Lagrangians, whose kinetic matrix cannot be inverted, thus leading to constraints between canonical variables and a reduced number of physical degrees of freedom. In this work, we derive in a systematic way the degeneracy conditions for scalar-tensor theories that depend quadratically on second order derivatives of a scalar field. We thus obtain a classification of all degenerate theories within this class of sca…
We generate new spherical and time-dependent solutions of viable Horndeski gravity by disforming a solution of the Einstein equations with scalar field source and positive cosmological constant. They describe dynamical objects embedded in asymptotically FLRW spacetimes and contain apparent horizons and a finite radius singularity that evolve in time in peculiar ways apparently not encountered before in Einstein and "old" scalar-tensor gravity.
Gravity theories beyond General Relativity typically predict dipolar gravitational emission by compact-star binaries. This emission is sourced by "sensitivity" parameters depending on the stellar compactness. We introduce a general formalism to calculate these parameters, and show that in shift-symmetric Horndeski theories stellar sensitivities and dipolar radiation vanish, provided that the binary's dynamics is perturbative (i.e. the post-Newtonian formalism is applicable) and cosmological-expansion effects can be neglected. This allows reproducing the binary-pulsar observed orbital decay.
In this paper we show that an equivalence between Horndeski and beyond Horndeski theories and general relativity with an effective imperfect fluid can be formally established. The formal equivalence is discussed for several particular cases of interest. Working in the cosmological framework, it is shown that, while the effective stress-energy tensor of viable Horndeski theories is formally equivalent to that of an imperfect fluid with anisotropic stresses and vanishing heat flux vector, the effective stress-energy tensor of beyond Horndeski theories is equivalent to the one of a perfect fluid …
We study holographic conformal anomalies and the corresponding $a$-theorem for Einstein gravity extended with Horndeski terms that involve up to and including linear curvature tensors. We focus on our discussion in $D=5$ bulk dimensions. For the generic Horndeski coupling, the $a$-charge is the same as that in Einstein gravity, but the inclusion of the Horndeski term violates the $a$-theorem. However, there exists a critical point of the Horndeski coupling, for which the theory admits nearly AdS spacetimes with non-vanishing Horndeski scalar. The full AdS isometry is broken down by the logarit…
We consider all degenerate scalar-tensor theories that depend quadratically on second order derivatives of a scalar field, which we have identified in a previous work. These theories, whose degeneracy in general ensures the absence of Ostrogradski instability, include the quartic Horndenski Lagrangian as well as its quartic extension beyond Horndeski, but also other families of Lagrangians. We study how all these theories transform under general conformal-disformal transformations and find that they can be separated into three main classes that are stable under these transformations. This lead…
We investigate a cosmological scenario by finding solutions using first-order formalism in the Horndeski gravity that constrains the superpotential and implies that no free choice of scalar potential is allowed. Despite this we show that a de Sitter phase at late-time cosmology can be realized, where the dark energy sector can be identified. The scalar field equation of state tends to the cosmological scenario at present time and allows us to conclude that it can simulate the dark energy in the Horndeski gravity.
In this paper, we analyze a simple class of Horndeski scalar-tensor theory. We investigate several cosmological solutions for inflation, bounce scenario and finite future-time singuarities. Perturbations respect to Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric are studied and discussed in the context of inflation.
We find spherically symmetric and static black holes in shift-symmetric Horndeski and beyond Horndeski theories. They are asymptotically flat and sourced by a non trivial static scalar field. The first class of solutions is constructed in such a way that the Noether current associated with shift symmetry vanishes, while the scalar field cannot be trivial. This in certain cases leads to hairy black hole solutions (for the quartic Horndeski Lagrangian), and in others to singular solutions (for a Gauss-Bonnet term). Additionally, we find the general spherically symmetric and static solutions for …
It was found recently that the anisotropies in the homogeneous Bianchi I cosmology considered within the context of a specific Horndeski theory are damped near the initial singularity instead of being amplified. In this work we extend the analysis of this phenomenon to cover the whole of the Horndeski family. We find that the phenomenon is absent in the K-essence and/or Kinetic Gravity Braiding theories, where the anisotropies grow as one approaches the singularity. The anisotropies are damped at early times only in more general Horndeski models whose Lagrangian includes terms quadratic and cu…
We present an overview of recent developments in the numerical solution of Horndeski gravity theories, which are the class of all scalar-tensor theories of gravity that have second order equations of motion. We review several methods that have been used to establish well-posed initial value problems for these theories, and discuss well-posed formulations of the constraint equations. We also discuss global aspects of exact, strongly coupled solutions to some of Horndeski gravity theories: the formation of shocks, the loss of hyperbolicity, and the formation of naked curvature singularities. Fin…
We present different Taub-NUT/Bolt-anti de Sitter (AdS) solutions in a shift-symmetric sector of Horndeski theory of gravity possessing nonminimal kinetic coupling of scalar fields to the Einstein tensor. In four dimensions, we find locally and asymptotically locally AdS solutions possessing nontrivial scalar field. In higher dimensions, analytical Taub-NUT/Bolt-AdS p-branes and solitons are obtained, supported by the existence of p Horndeski scalar fields with axionic profile. The thermodynamical properties are studied through Euclidean methods and it is found that the first law of thermodyna…
We consider the newly proposed Bahamonde-Dialektopoulos-Levi Said (BDLS) theory, that is the Horndeski analog in the teleparallel framework and thus contains a non-minimally coupled scalar field, including higher order derivatives, that leads however to second order field equations both for the tetrad and the scalar field. This theory was mostly constructed to revive those models that were severely constrained in the scalar-tensor version of the theory from the GW170817, but includes also much richer phenomenology because of the nature of the torsion tensor. For this theory we determine the pa…
