This paper studies a generic fourth-order theory of gravity with Lagrangian density $f(R,R_c^2,R_m^2, \mathscr{L}_m)$. By considering explicit $R^2$ dependence and imposing the "coherence condition" $f_{R^2}\!=\!f_{R_m^2}\!=\! -f_{R_c^2}/4$, the field equations of $f(R,R^2,R_c^2,R_m^2, \mathscr{L}_m)$ gravity can be smoothly reduced to that of $f(R,\mathcal{G},\mathscr{L}_m)$ generalized Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We use Noether's conservation law to study the $f(\mathcal{R}_1,\mathcal{R}_2\ldots,\mathcal{R}_n,\mathscr{L}_m)$ model with nonminimal coupling between $\mathscr{L}_m$ and Riemannian invariants $ \mathcal{R}_i$, and conjecture that the gradient of nonminimal gravitational coupling strength $\nabla^μf_{\!\mathscr{L}_m}$ is the only source for energy-momentum non-conservation. This conjecture is applied to the $f(R,R_c^2,R_m^2, \mathscr{L}_m)$ model, and the equations of continuity and non-geodesic motion of different matter contents are investigated. Finally, the field equation for Lagrangians including the traceless-Ricci square and traceless-Riemann (Weyl) square invariants is derived, the $f(R,R_c^2,R_m^2, \mathscr{L}_m)$ model is compared with the $f(R,R_c^2,R_m^2,T)+2κ\mathscr{L}_m$ model, and consequences of nonminimal coupling for black hole and wormhole physics are considered.
Inflationary models with a scalar field nonminimally coupled both with the Ricci scalar and with the Gauss-Bonnet term are studied. We propose the way of generalization of inflationary scenarios with the Gauss-Bonnet term and a scalar field minimally coupled with the Ricci scalar to the corresponding scenarios with a scalar field nonminimally coupled with the Ricci scalar. Using the effective potential, we construct a set of models with the same values of the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and the amplitude of the scalar perturbations $A_s$ and different values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$.
We investigate the scalar field dynamics of models with nonminimally coupled scalar fields in the presence of the Gauss-Bonnet term and derive the structure of the effective potential and conditions for stable de Sitter solutions in general. Specializing to specific couplings, we explore the possibility of realizing the stable de Sitter configurations which may have implications for both the early Universe and late time evolution.
We study the greybody factor and power spectra of Hawking radiation for the minimally or nonminimally coupled scalar field with exact numerical method in spherically symmetric Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet-de Sitter black hole spacetime. The effects of scalar coupling constant, angular momentum number of scalar, spacetime dimension, cosmological constant and Gauss-Bonnet coupling constant on the Hawking radiation are studied in detail. Specifically, the Gauss-Bonnet coupling constant always increases the greybody factor in the entire energy regime. Different from the case of Schwarzschild-de Sitter bl…
We consider the constant-roll condition in the model of the inflaton nonminimal coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet term. By assuming the first Gauss-Bonnet flow parameter $δ_1$ is a constant, we discuss the constant-roll inflation with constant $ε_1$, constant $ε_2$ and constant $η_H$, respectively. Using the Bessel function approximation, we get the analytical expressions for the scalar and tensor power spectrum and derive the scalar spectral index $n_{\mathcal{R}}$ and the tensor to scalar ratio $r$ to the first order of $ε_1$. By using the Planck 2018 observations constraint on $n_{\mathcal{R}}$ …
Oscillatory dark energy with phantom crossings in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity
Institute for Theoretical Physics and Cosmology, Zhejiang University of Technology(浙江工业大学理论物理与宇宙学研究所);Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur(坎普尔印度理工学院物理系)
Scalar-tensor gravity theories with a nonminimal Gauss-Bonnet coupling typically lead to an anomalous propagation speed for gravitational waves, and have therefore been tightly constrained by multimessenger observations such as GW170817/GRB170817A. In this paper we show that this is not a general feature of scalar-tensor theories, but rather a consequence of assuming that spacetime torsion vanishes identically. At least for the case of a nonminimal Gauss-Bonnet coupling, removing the torsionless condition restores the canonical dispersion relation and therefore the correct propagation speed fo…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) can be the source for all or a part of today's dark matter density. Inflation provides a mechanism for generating the seeds of PBHs in the presence of a temporal period where the velocity of an inflaton field $ϕ$ rapidly decreases toward 0. We compute the primordial power spectra of curvature perturbations generated during Gauss-Bonnet (GB) corrected Higgs inflation in which the inflaton field has not only a nonminimal coupling to gravity but also a GB coupling. For a scalar-GB coupling exhibiting a rapid change during inflation, we show that curvature perturbatio…
We study linear perturbations about static and spherically symmetric black holes with a time-independent background scalar field in shift-symmetric Horndeski theories, whose Lagrangian is characterized by coupling functions depending only on the kinetic term of the scalar field $X$. We clarify conditions for the absence of ghosts and Laplacian instabilities along the radial and angular directions in both odd- and even-parity perturbations. For reflection-symmetric theories described by a k-essence Lagrangian and a nonminimal derivative coupling with the Ricci scalar, we show that black holes e…
Four-dimensional homogeneous static and rotating black strings in dynamical Chern-Simons modified gravity, with and without torsion, are presented. Each solution is supported by a scalar field that depends linearly on the coordinate that span the string. The solutions are locally $\mbox{AdS}_3 \times \mathbb{R}$ and they represent the continuation of the Bañados-Teitelboim-Zanelli black hole. Moreover, they belong to the so-called Chern-Simons sector of the space of solutions of the theory, since the Cotton tensor contributes nontrivially to the field equations. The case with nonvanishing tors…
In Horndeski theories containing a scalar coupling with the Gauss-Bonnet (GB) curvature invariant $R_{\rm GB}^2$, we study the existence and linear stability of neutron star (NS) solutions on a static and spherically symmetric background. For a scalar-GB coupling of the form $αξ(ϕ) R_{\rm GB}^2$, where $ξ$ is a function of the scalar field $ϕ$, the existence of linearly stable stars with a nontrivial scalar profile without instabilities puts an upper bound on the strength of the dimensionless coupling constant $|α|$. To realize maximum masses of NSs for a linear (or dilatonic) GB coupling $α_{…
In this work, we consider the full Horndeski Lagrangian applied to wormhole geometries and present the full gravitational field equations. We analyse the general constraints imposed by the flaring-out conditions at the wormhole throat and consider a plethora of specific subclasses of the Horndeski Lagrangian, namely, quintessence/phantom fields, $k$-essence, scalar-tensor theories, covariant galileons, nonminimal kinetic coupling, kinetic gravity braiding, and the scalar-tensor representation of Gauss-Bonnet couplings, amongst others. The generic constraints analysed in this work serve as a co…
In a certain class of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, the black holes and the neutron stars can undergo spontaneous scalarization -- a strong gravity phase transition triggered by a tachyonic instability due to the nonminimal coupling between the scalar field and the spacetime curvature. Studies of this phenomenon have, so far, been restricted mainly to the study of the tachyonic instability and stationary scalarized black holes and neutron stars. To date, no realistic physical mechanism for the formation of isolated scalarized black holes and neutron stars has been proposed. We study, for the fi…
We investigate the possibility of spontaneous scalarization of static, spherically symmetric, and asymptotically flat black holes (BHs) in the Horndeski theory. Spontaneous scalarization of BHs is a phenomenon that the scalar field spontaneously obtains a nontrivial profile in the vicinity of the event horizon via the nonminimal couplings and eventually the BH possesses a scalar charge. In the theory in which spontaneous scalarization takes place, the Schwarzschild solution with a trivial profile of the scalar field exhibits a tachyonic instability in the vicinity of the event horizon, and evo…