We make a full classification of scalar monomials built of the Riemann curvature tensor up to the quadratic order and of the covariant derivatives of the scalar field up to the third order. From the point of view of the effective field theory, the third or even higher order covariant derivatives of the scalar field are of the same order as the higher curvature terms, and thus should be taken into account. Moreover, higher curvature terms and higher order derivatives of the scalar field are complementary to each other, of which novel ghost-free combinations may exist. We make a systematic classification of all the possible monomials, according to the numbers of Riemann tensor and higher derivatives of the scalar field in each monomial. Complete basis of monomials at each order are derived, of which linear combinations may yield novel ghost-free Lagrangians. We also develop a diagrammatic representation of the monomials, which may help to simplify the analysis.
We investigate the correspondence between generally covariant higher derivative scalar-tensor theory and spatially covariant gravity theory. The building blocks are the scalar field and spacetime curvature tensor together with their generally covariant derivatives for the former, and the spatially covariant geometric quantities together with their spatially covariant derivatives for the later. In the case of a single scalar degree of freedom, they are transformed to each other by gauge fixing and recovering procedures, of which we give the explicit expressions. We make a systematic classificat…
We investigate the ghostfree scalar-tensor theory with a timelike scalar field, with derivatives of the scalar field up to the third order and with the Riemann tensor up to the quadratic order. We build two types of linear spaces. One is the set of linearly independent generally covariant scalar-tensor monomials, the other is the set of linearly independent spatially covariant gravity monomials. We argue that these two types of linear space are isomorphic to each other in the sense of gauge fixing/recovering procedures. We then identify the subspaces in the spatially covariant gravity, which a…
Parity-violating spatially covariant gravity at total derivative order $d=5$
School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学物理学院）；Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Metrology and Sensing, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学广东省量子计量与传感重点实验室）
We study the particle content of higher derivative theories of gravity built with contractions of the Riemann tensor and its covariant derivatives. In the absence of the latter, there is a family of theories exhibiting an Einsteinian spectrum known as generalized quasi-topological gravities. In turn, we present a no-go result for the construction of Einsteinian gravities involving covariant derivatives of the Riemann tensor. We find evidences suggesting that (truncated series) finite order Lagrangians with covariant derivatives of the Riemann tensor generically present ghosts in their spectrum…
Recently, Chamseddine and Mukhanov introduced a higher-derivative scalar-tensor theory which leads to a modified Friedmann equation allowing for bouncing solutions. As we note in the present work, this Friedmann equation turns out to reproduce exactly the loop quantum cosmology effective dynamics for a flat isotropic and homogeneous space-time. We generalize this result to obtain a class of scalar-tensor theories, belonging to the family of mimetic gravity, which all reproduce the loop quantum cosmology effective dynamics for flat, closed and open isotropic and homogeneous space-times.
Ostrogradsky instability generally appears in nondegenerate higher-order derivative theories and this issue can be resolved by removing any existing degeneracy present in such theories. We consider an action involving terms that are at most quadratic in second derivatives of the scalar field and non-minimally coupled with the curvature tensors. We perform a 3+1 decomposition of the Lagrangian to separate second-order time derivative terms from rest. This decomposition is useful for checking the degeneracy hidden in the Lagrangian and helps us find conditions under which Ostrogradsky instabilit…
We consider slow-roll inflation for a single scalar field with an arbitrary potential and an arbitrary nonminimal coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet term. By introducing a combined hierarchy of Hubble and Gauss-Bonnet flow functions, we analytically derive the power spectra of scalar and tensor perturbations. The standard consistency relation between the tensor-to-scalar ratio and the spectral index of tensor perturbations is broken. We apply this formalism to a specific model with a monomial potential and an inverse monomial Gauss-Bonnet coupling and constrain it by the 7-year Wilkinson Microwave A…
We consider a gravitating system of vanishing cosmological constant consisting of an electromagnetic field and a scalar field coupled to the Einstein tensor. A Reissner-Nordström black hole undergoes a second-order phase transition to a hairy black hole of generally anisotropic hair at a certain critical temperature which we compute. The no-hair theorem is evaded due to the coupling between the scalar field and the Einstein tensor. Within a first order perturbative approach we calculate explicitly the properties of a hairy black hole configuration near the critical temperature and show that it…
We consider a general Kaluza-Klein reduction of a truncated Lovelock theory. We find necessary geometric conditions for the reduction to be consistent. The resulting lower-dimensional theory is a higher derivative scalar-tensor theory, depends on a single real parameter and yields second-order field equations. Due to the presence of higher-derivative terms, the theory has multiple applications in modifications of Einstein gravity (Galileon/Horndesky theory) and holography (Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton theories). We find and analyze charged black hole solutions with planar or curved horizons, both …
We show that the most general scalar-tensor theory of gravity up to four derivatives in $3+1$ dimensions is well-posed in a modified version of the CCZ4 formulation of the Einstein equations in singularity-avoiding coordinates. We demonstrate the robustness of our new formulation in practise by studying equal mass black hole binary mergers for different values of the coupling constants. Although our analysis of well-posedness is restricted to cases in which the couplings are small, we find that in simulations we are able to push the couplings to larger values, so that a certain weak coupling c…
We discuss the relation between canonical and metric energy-momentum tensors for field theories with actions that can depend on the higher derivatives of tensor fields in a flat spacetime. In order to obtain it we use a modification of the Noether's procedure for curved space-time. For considered case the difference between these two tensors turns out to have more general form than for theories with no more than first order derivatives. Despite this fact we prove that the difference between corresponding integrals of motion still has the form of integral over 2-dimensional surface that is infi…
We propose a new class of higher derivative scalar-tensor theories without the Ostrogradsky's ghost instabilities. The construction of our theory is originally motivated by a scalar field with spacelike gradient, which enables us to fix a gauge in which the scalar field appears to be non-dynamical. We dub such a gauge as the spatial gauge. Though the scalar field loses its dynamics, the spatial gauge fixing breaks the time diffeomorphism invariance and thus excites a scalar mode in the gravity sector. We generalize this idea and construct a general class of scalar-tensor theories through a non…
We discuss the extent to which it is necessary to include higher-derivative operators in the effective field theory of general scalar-tensor theories. We explore the circumstances under which it is correct to restrict to second-order operators only, and demonstrate this using several different techniques, such as reduction of order and explicit field redefinitions. These methods are applied, in particular, to the much-studied Horndeski theories. The goal is to clarify the application of effective field theory techniques in the context of popular cosmological models, and to explicitly demonstra…
To understand the coupling behavior of the spinor with spacetime, the explicit form of the energy-momentum tensor of the spinor in curved spacetime is important. This problem seems to be overlooked for a long time. In this paper we derive the explicit form of energy momentum tensors and display some equivalent but simple forms of the covariant derivatives for both the Weyl spinor and the Dirac bispinor in curved spacetime.
We consider Bel-Robinson-like higher derivative conserved two-index tensors $H_\mn$ in simple matter models, following a recently suggested Maxwell field version. In flat space, we show that they are essentially equivalent to the true stress-tensors. In curved Ricci-flat backgrounds it is possible to redefine $H_\mn$ so as to overcome non-commutativity of covariant derivatives, and maintain conservation, but they become model- and dimension- dependent, and generally lose their simple "BR" form.
We study the quasi-normal modes of asymptotically anti-de Sitter black holes in a class of shift-symmetric Horndeski theories where a gravitational scalar is derivatively coupled to the Einstein tensor. The space-time differs from exact Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter, resulting in a different effective potential for the quasi-normal modes and a different spectrum. We numerically compute this spectrum for a massless test scalar coupled both minimally to the metric, and non-minimally to the gravitational scalar. We find interesting differences from the Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black hole found…
The generalized projection-tensor geometry introduced in an earlier paper is extended. A compact notation for families of projected objects is introduced and used to summarize the results of the previous paper and obtain fully projected decompositions of Lie derivatives of the projection tensor field, the metric and the projected parts of the metric. These results are applied to the analysis of spacetimes with isometries. The familiar cases of spacetimes with isotropic group orbits --- cosmological models and spherical symmetry --- are discussed as illustrations of the results.
We prove the theorem: The second order quasi-linear differential operator as a second rank divergence free tensor in the equation of motion for gravitation could always be derived from the trace of the Bianchi derivative of the fourth rank tensor, which is a homogeneous polynomial in curvatures. The existence of such a tensor for each term in the polynomial Lagrangian is a new characterization of the Lovelock gravity.
With the usual definitions for the entropy and the temperature associated with the apparent horizon, we show that the unified first law on the apparent horizon is equivalent to the Friedmann equation for the scalar--tensor theory with non-minimally derivative coupling. The second law of thermodynamics on the apparent horizon is also satisfied. The results support a deep and fundamental connection between gravitation, thermodynamics, and quantum theory.
Consistency relations for chaotic inflation with a monomial potential and natural inflation and hilltop inflation are given which involve the scalar spectral index $n_s$, the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and the running of the spectral index $α$. The measurement of $α$ with $O(10^{-3})$ and the improvement in the measurement of $n_s$ could discriminate monomial model from natural/hilltop inflation models. A consistency region for general large field models is also presented.
We consider a higher-derivative generalization of disformal transformations in $D$-dimensional spacetime and clarify the conditions under which they form a group with respect to the matrix product and the functional composition. These conditions allow us to systematically construct the inverse transformation in a fully covariant manner. Applying the invertible generalized disformal transformation to known ghost-free scalar-tensor theories, we obtain a novel class of ghost-free scalar-tensor theories, whose action contains the third- or higher-order derivatives of the scalar field as well as no…
We disclose remarkable features of the scalar-tensor theory with the derivative coupling of the scalar field to the curvature in the Palatini formalism. Using the disformal transformations, we show that this theory is free from Otrogradski ghosts. For a special relation between two coupling constants, it is disformally dual to the Einstein gravity minimally coupled to the scalar, which opens the way to constructing several exact solutions. The disformal transformation degenerates at the boundary of the physical region, near which the properties of desingularization are revealed, illustrated by…
With the usual definitions for the entropy and the temperature associated with the apparent horizon, we discuss the first law of the thermodynamics on the apparent in the general scalar-tensor theory of gravity with the kinetic term of the scalar field non-minimally coupling to Einstein tensor. We show the equivalence between the first law of thermodynamics on the apparent horizon and Friedmann equation for the general models, by using a mass-like function which is equal to the Misner-Sharp mass on the apparent horizon. The results further support the universal relationship between the first l…
We perform a Hamiltonian analysis of a large class of scalar-tensor Lagrangians which depend quadratically on the second derivatives of a scalar field. By resorting to a convenient choice of dynamical variables, we show that the Hamiltonian can be written in a very simple form, where the Hamiltonian and the momentum constraints are easily identified. In the case of degenerate Lagrangians, which include the Horndeski and beyond Horndeski quartic Lagrangians, our analysis confirms that the dimension of the physical phase space is reduced by the primary and secondary constraints due to the degene…
We derive the odd parity perturbation equation in scalar-tensor theories with a non minimal kinetic coupling sector of the general Horndeski theory, where the kinetic term is coupled to the metric and the Einstein tensor. We derive the potential of the perturbation, by identifying a master function and switching to tortoise coordinates. We then prove the mode stability under linear odd- parity perturbations of hairy black holes in this sector of Horndeski theory, when a cosmological constant term in the action is included. Finally, we comment on the existence of slowly rotating black hole solu…
We study the structure of scalar-tensor theories of gravity based on derivative couplings between the scalar and the matter degrees of freedom introduced through an effective metric. Such interactions are classified by their tensor structure into conformal (scalar), disformal (vector) and extended disformal (traceless tensor), as well as by the derivative order of the scalar field. Relations limited to first derivatives of the field ensure second order equations of motion in the Einstein frame and hence the absence of Ostrogradski ghost degrees of freedom. The existence of a mapping to the Jor…
We consider a vector-tensor gravitational model with terms quadratic in the Maxwell tensor derivatives, called the Bopp-Podolsky term. The gravitational field equations of the model and the equations describing the evolution of the vector field are obtained and their Newtonian limit is investigated. The cosmological implications of a Bopp-Podolsky type dark energy term are investigated for a Bianchi type I homogeneous and anisotropic geometry for two models, corresponding to the absence and presence of the self-interacting potential of the field, respectively. The time evolutions of the Hubble…
We consider the sector of Horndeski's gravity characterized by the coupling between the kinetic scalar field term and the Einstein tensor. We numerically construct neutron star configurations where the external geometry is identical to the Schwarzschild metric but the interior structure is considerably different from standard general relativity. We constrain the only parameter of this model from the requirement that compact configurations exist, and we argue that solutions less compact than neutron stars, such as white dwarfs, are also supported. Therefore, our model provides an explicit modif…
A model is proposed, according to which the metric tensor field in the standard gravitational Lagrangian is decomposed into a projection (generally - with a non-zero covariant derivative) tensor field, orthogonal to an arbitrary 4-vector field and a tensor part along the same vector field. A theorem has been used, according to which the variation and the partial derivative, when applied to a tensor field, commute with each other if and only if the tensor field and its variation have zero covariant derivatives, provided also the connection variation is zero. Since the projection field obviously…
We investigate the quasinormal modes of a test massless, minimally coupled scalar field on a static and spherically symmetric black hole in the scalar-tensor theory with field derivative coupling to the Einstein tensor, which is a part of the Horndeski theory with the shift symmetry. In our solution, the spacetime is asymptotically AdS (anti-de Sitter), where the effective AdS curvature scale is determined solely by the derivative coupling constant. The metric approaches the AdS spacetime in the asymptotic infinity limit and precisely recovers the Schwarzschild-AdS solution in general relativi…
We present a definition of tensor fields which are average of tensors over a manifold, with a straightforward and natural definition of derivative for the averaged fields; which in turn makes a suitable and practical construction for the study of averages of tensor fields that satisfy differential equations. Although we have in mind applications to general relativity, our presentation is applicable to a general n-dimensional manifold. The definition is based on the integration of scalars constructed from a physically motivated basis, making use of the least amount of geometrical structure. We …
We present black hole type solutions in the scalar-tensor theory with nonminimal derivative coupling to the Einstein tensor. The effects of the nonminimal derivative coupling appear in the large scales, while the solutions approach those in the Einstein gravity in the small scales. For the particular coupling constant tuned to the inverse of the cosmological constant, the scalar field becomes trivial and the solutions in the Einstein gravity are recovered. For the other coupling constant, more general solutions can be obtained. If the two-dimensional maximally symmetric space is a two-sphere, …
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 consider inflation as an effective field theory and study the effects of the addition to the Lagrangian of irrelevant operators with higher powers of first derivatives on its dynamics and observables. We find that significant deviations from the two-derivative dynamics are possible within the regime of validity of the effective field theory. Focusing on monomial potentials we show that the main effect of the terms under consideration is to reduce the speed of sound thereby reducing the tensor fraction, while having little impact on the scalar tilt. Crucially, these effects can arise even wh…
We study generalized disformal transformations, including derivatives of the metric, in the context of the Effective Field Theory of Inflation. All these transformations do not change the late-time cosmological observables but change the coefficients of the operators in the action: some couplings are effectively redundant. At leading order in derivatives and up to cubic order in perturbations, one has 6 free functions that can be used to set to zero 6 of the 17 operators at this order. This is used to show that the tensor three-point function cannot be modified at leading order in derivatives,…
We introduce a new Weyl-invariant and generally-covariant vector-tensor theory with higher derivatives. This theory can be induced by extending the mimetic construction to vector fields of conformal weight four. We demonstrate that in gauge-invariant variables this novel theory reduces to the Henneaux-Teitelboim description of the unimodular gravity. Hence, compared with the standard general relativity, our new higher derivative vector-tensor theory has only one new global degree of freedom - the cosmological constant. Finally we discuss potential extensions of this vector-tensor theory.
We show that the prediction for the primordial tensor power spectrum cannot be modified at leading order in derivatives. Indeed, one can always set to unity the speed of propagation of gravitational waves during inflation by a suitable disformal transformation of the metric, while a conformal one can make the Planck mass time-independent. Therefore, the tensor amplitude unambiguously fixes the energy scale of inflation. Using the Effective Field Theory of Inflation, we check that predictions are independent of the choice of frame, as expected. The first corrections to the standard prediction c…
We elaborate on the inflationary model starting from multidimensional Lagrangian and gravity with second-order curvature terms. The effective scalar field is related to the Ricci scalar of extra dimensions. It is shown that the Kretschmann and the Ricci tensor square terms dominate during inflation. The observable values of the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio are obtained for specific values of the model parameters.
In arXiv:2103.15482 an estimate for suitable skew-symmetric 2-tensors was claimed. Soon after, this estimate has been exploited to claim powerful classification results: most notably, it has been employed to propose a proof of a Black Hole Uniqueness Theorem for vacuum static spacetimes with positive scalar curvature and in connection with the Besse Conjecture. In the present note we point out an issue in the argument proposed in arXiv:2103.15482 and we provide a counterexample to the estimate.
We present detailed pedagogical derivation of covariant derivative of fermions and some related expressions, including commutator of covariant derivatives and energy-momentum tensor of a free Dirac field. On top of that, local conformal transformations for a Dirac fermion in curved spacetime are considered and we obtain the expression for the energy-momentum tensor on the cosmological background.
Extending Weinberg's EFT: effective scalar-tensor theories up to sixth order
Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）；TU Wien（维也纳工业大学）；The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（理论物理前沿研究所）；University of Nottingham（诺丁汉大学）
We investigate how the comoving curvature and tensor perturbations are transformed under the generalized disformal transformation with the second-order covariant derivatives of the scalar field, where the free functions depend on the fundamental elements constructed with the covariant derivatives of the scalar field with at most the quadratic order of the second-order covariant derivatives. Our analysis reveals that on the superhorizon scales the difference between the comoving curvature perturbations in the original and new frames is given by the combination of the time derivative of the como…
The purpose of the paper is to develop further a projection variational approach in relativistic hydrodynamics. The approach, previously proposed in [gr-qc/9908032], is based on the variation of the vector field and the projection tensor (instead of the given metric tensor) and their first partial derivatives. The previously proved property of non-commutativity of the variation and the partial derivative in respect to the projection tensor has been used to find all the variations. Subsequently, motivated by some analogy with the well-known (3+1) ADM projection formalism, an assumption has been…
We consider a subclass of Horndeski theories for studying cosmic inflation. In particular, we investigate models of inflation in which the derivative self-interaction of the scalar field and the non-minimal derivative coupling to gravity are present in the action and equally important during inflation. In order to control contributions of each term as well as to approach the single-term limit, we introduce a special relation between the derivative interaction and the coupling to gravity. By calculating observable quantities including the power spectra and spectral tilts of scalar and tensor pe…
We introduce the MathGR package, written in Mathematica. The package can manipulate tensor and GR calculations with either abstract or explicit indices, simplify tensors with permutational symmetries, decompose tensors from abstract indices to partially or completely explicit indices and convert partial derivatives into total derivatives. Frequently used GR tensors and a model of FRW universe with ADM type perturbations are predefined. The package is built around the philosophy to "keep it simple", and makes use of latest tensor technologies of Mathematica.
A field kinetic coupling with the Einstein tensor leads to a gravitationally enhanced friction during inflation, by which even steep potentials with theoretically natural model parameters can drive cosmic acceleration. In the presence of this non-minimal derivative coupling we place observational constraints on a number of representative inflationary models such as chaotic inflation, inflation with exponential potentials, natural inflation, and hybrid inflation. We show that most of the models can be made compatible with the current observational data mainly due to the suppressed tensor-to-sca…
