We reformulate the recently proposed regularized version of Lovelock gravity in four dimensions as a scalar-tensor theory. By promoting the warp factor of the internal space to a scalar degree of freedom by means of Kaluza-Klein reduction, we show that regularized Lovelock gravity can be described effectively by a certain subclass of the Horndeski theory. Cosmological aspects of this particular scalar-tensor theory are studied. It is found that the background with a scalar charge is generically allowed. The consequences of this scalar charge are briefly discussed.
In this paper we study the perturbation theory of the recently proposed Regularized Lovelock Gravity, on the curved FLRW space-time. We provide the first order perturbation equations both in the scalar and tensor sector in the presence of an additional minimally coupled scalar field. A general expression for the velocity of gravitational waves at the generic order is inferred. Moreover, we apply the results on the study of slow-roll inflation on flat FLRW background, at second order in the Regularized Lovelock Gravity, i.e. in the presence of the Gauss-Bonnet correction only. We derive the pow…
The recently proposed regularized Lovelock tensors are kinetically coupled to the scalar field. The resulting equation of motion is second order. In particular, it is found that when the $p=3$ regularized Lovelock tensor is kinetically coupled to the scalar field, the scalar field is the potential candidate of cosmic dark energy.
A general expression is given for the quartic Lovelock tensor in terms of the Riemann-Christoffel and Ricci curvature tensors and the Riemann curvature scalar for n-dimensional differentiable manifolds having a general linear connection. In addition, expressions are given (in the appendix) for the coefficient of the quartic Lovelock Lagrangian as well as for lower-order Lovelock tensors and Lovelock Lagrangian coefficients.
This paper presents some possible features of general expressions for Lovelock tensors and for the coefficients of Lovelock Lagrangians up to the 15th order in curvature (and beyond) in terms of the Riemann-Christoffel and Ricci curvature tensors and the Riemann curvature scalar for n-dimensional differentiable manifolds having a general linear connection.
It is possible to define an analogue of the Riemann tensor for $N$th order Lovelock gravity, its characterizing property being that the trace of its Bianchi derivative yields the corresponding analogue of the Einstein tensor. Interestingly there exist two parallel but distinct such analogues and the main purpose of this note is to reconcile both these formulations. In addition we will show that any pure Lovelock vacuum in odd $d = 2N + 1$ dimensions is Lovelock flat, i.e. any vacuum solution of the theory has vanishing Lovelock-Riemann tensor. Further, in presence of cosmological constant it i…
A general expression is given for the quintic Lovelock tensor as well as for the coefficient of the quintic Lovelock Lagrangian in terms of the Riemann-Christoffel and Ricci curvature tensors and the Riemann curvature scalar for n-dimensional differentiable manifolds having a general linear connection.
It is found that, when the coupling constants $α_p$ in the theory of regularized Lovelock gravity are properly chosen and the number of Lovelock tensors $p\rightarrow \infty$, there exist a fairly large number of nonsingular (singularity free) black holes and nonsingular universes. Some nonsingular black holes have numerous horizons and numerous energy levels (a bit like atom) inside the outer event horizon. On the other hand, some nonsingular universes start and end in two de Sitter phases. The ratio of energy densities for the two phases are $120$ orders. It is thus helpful to understand the…
A four-dimensional regularization of Lovelock-Lanczos gravity up to an arbitrary curvature order is considered. We show that Lovelock-Lanczos terms can provide a non-trivial contribution to the Einstein field equations in four dimensions, for spherically symmetric and Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetimes, as well as at first order in perturbation theory around (anti) de Sitter vacua. We will discuss the cosmological and black hole solutions arising from these theories, focusing on the presence of attractors and their stability. Although curvature singularities persist for any finite …
For spherical symmetry, we provide expressions for the radial null-null components of the generalized Einstein tensor $E_{ab}$ for Lovelock models for diagonal $E_{ab}$ in terms of the metric and of the radial null-null components of the Ricci tensor. We show they can be usefully employed for example in obtaining the Birkhoff-like theorem for Lovelock models, as well as in providing a relation between the null energy and null convergence conditions for the same models.
We obtain plane fronted gravitational waves (PFGWs) in arbitrary dimension in Lovelock gravity, to any order in the Riemann tensor. We exhibit pure gravity as well as Lovelock-Yang-Mills PFGWs. Lovelock-Maxwell and $pp$ waves arise as particular cases. The electrovac solutions trivially satisfy the Lovelock-Born-Infeld field equations. The peculiarities that arise in degenerate Lovelock theories are also analyzed.
Constructs from conformal geometry are important in low dimensional gravity models, while in higher dimensions the higher curvature interactions of Lovelock gravity are similarly prominent. Considering conformal invariance in the context of Lovelock gravity leads to natural, higher-curvature generalizations of the Weyl, Schouten, Cotton and Bach tensors, with properties that straightforwardly extend those of their familiar counterparts. As a first application, we introduce a new set of conformally invariant gravity theories in D=4k dimensions, based on the squares of the higher curvature Weyl …
In the Riemann geometry, the metric's equation of motion for an arbitrary Lagrangian is succinctly expressed in term of the first variation of the action with respect to the Riemann tensor if the Riemann tensor were independent of the metric. Let this variation be called the E-tensor. Noting that the E-tensor and equations of the motion for a general Lovelock gravity have the same differential degree, we define generalized Lovelock gravity as polynomial scalar densities constructed out from the Riemann tensor and its arbitrary covariant derivatives such that they lead to the same differential …
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-…
We study the stability of static black holes in the third order Lovelock theory. We derive a master equation for tensor perturbations. Using the master equation, we analyze the stability of Lovelock black holes mainly in seven and eight dimensions. We find there are cases where the linear analysis breaks down. If we restrict ourselves to the regime where the linear analysis is legitimate, black holes are always stable in seven dimensions. However, in eight dimensions, there exists a critical mass below which black holes are unstable. Combining our result in the third order Lovelock theory with…
We study the problem of finding brane-like solutions to Lovelock gravity, adopting a general approach to establish conditions that a lower dimensional base metric must satisfy in order that a solution to a given Lovelock theory can be constructed in one higher dimension. We find that for Lovelock theories with generic values of the coupling constants, the Lovelock tensors (higher curvature generalizations of the Einstein tensor) of the base metric must all be proportional to the metric. Hence, allowed base metrics form a subclass of Einstein metrics. This subclass includes so-called `universal…
We show that the splitting feature of the Einstein tensor, as the first term of the Lovelock tensor, into two parts, namely the Ricci tensor and the term proportional to the curvature scalar, with the trace relation between them is a common feature of any other homogeneous terms in the Lovelock tensor. Motivated by the principle of general invariance, we find that this property can be generalized, with the aid of a generalized trace operator which we define, for any inhomogeneous Euler-Lagrange expression that can be spanned linearly in terms of homogeneous tensors. Then, through an applicatio…
We present an alternative derivation of the gravitational field equations for Lovelock gravity starting from the Newton's law, which is closer in spirit to the thermodynamic description of gravity. As a warm up exercise, we have explicitly demonstrated that projecting the Riemann curvature tensor appropriately and taking a cue from Poisson's equation, the Einstein's equations immediately follow. The above derivation naturally generalizes to Lovelock gravity theories where an appropriate curvature tensor satisfying the symmetries as well as the Bianchi derivative properties of the Riemann tenso…
There has recently been an increasing interest in regularizations of Lovelock-Lanczos gravity (LLG) in four dimensions, in which dimensional poles and possibly counter-terms are introduced to compensate the vanishing of the Lovelock field equations in critical and lower dimensions. In this paper, we review and extend some of these results. We first find a class of LLG theories whose perturbative expansion around a given (A)dS vacuum can be regularized up to arbitrary order, the simplest one being close to Lovelock gravities with a unique vacuum. If well-defined, these models might be interpret…
We analyze spherically symmetric black hole solutions with time-dependent scalar hair in a class of Lovelock-Galileon theories, which are the scalar-tensor theories with second-order field equations in arbitrary dimensions. We first show that known black hole solutions in five dimensions are always plagued by the ghost/gradient instability in the vicinity of the horizon. We then generalize such black hole solutions to higher dimensions and show that the same instability found in five dimensions appears universally in any number of dimensions.
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.
We study the stability of static black holes in Lovelock theory which is a natural higher dimensional generalization of Einstein theory. We derive a master equation for tensor perturbations in general Lovelock theory. It turns out that the resultant equation is characterized by one functional which determines the background black hole solutions. Thus, the stability issue of static black holes under tensor perturbations in general dimensions is reduced to an algebraic problem. We show that small Lovelock black holes in even-dimensions are unstable.
We study the stability of static spherically symmetric charged black holes under tensor type perturbations in Lovelock theory which is a natural higher dimensional generalization of Einstein theory. We derive the master equation for tensor type perturbations and present the criterions for the stability. Examining these criterions numerically, we show that a black hole with small charge has the instability if its mass is as small as extreme mass. Combined with our previous result that neutral black hole has no dynamical instability in odd dimensions, this result suggests that charges have fatal…
Let (X, g) be an arbitrary pseudo-riemannian manifold. A celebrated result by Lovelock gives an explicit description of all second-order natural (0,2)-tensors on X, that satisfy the conditions of being symmetric and divergence-free. Apart from the dual metric, the Einstein tensor of g is the simplest example. In this paper, we give a short and self-contained proof of this theorem, simplifying the existing one by formalizing the notion of derivative of a natural tensor.
The quasinormal modes of metric perturbations in asymptotically flat black hole spacetimes in the Lovelock model are calculated for different spacetime dimensions and higher orders of curvature. It is analytically established that in the asymptotic limit $l \rightarrow \infty$, the imaginary parts of the quasi normal frequencies become constant for tensor, scalar as well as vector perturbations. Numerical calculation shows that this indeed is the case. Also, the real and imaginary parts of the quasinormal modes are seen to increase as the order of the theory $k$ increases. The real part of the…
We study a scalar-tensor version of Lovelock theory with a non trivial higher order galileon term involving the coupling of the Lovelock two tensor with derivatives of the scalar galileon field. For a static and spherically symmetric spacetime we extend the Boulware-Deser solution to the presence of a Galileon field. The hairy solution has a regular scalar field on the black hole event horizon and presents certain self tuning properties for the bulk cosmological constant and the Gauss-Bonnet coupling. The combined time and radial dependence of the galileon field permits its horizon regularity.…
Some years ago, Lovelock showed that a number of apparently unrelated familiar tensor identities had a common structure, and could all be considered consequences in n-dimensional space of a pair of fundamental identities involving trace-free (p,p)-forms where 2p >= n$. We generalise Lovelock's results, and by using the fact that associated with any tensor in n-dimensional space there is associated a fundamental tensor identity obtained by antisymmetrising over n+1 indices, we establish a very general 'master' identity for all trace-free (k,l)-forms. We then show how various other special ident…
Conserved currents and related superpotentials for perturbations on arbitrary backgrounds in the Lovelock theory are constructed. We use the Lagrangian based field-theoretical method where perturbations are considered as dynamical fields propagating on a given background. Such a formulation is exact (not approximate) and equivalent to the theory in the original metric form. From the very start, using Noether theorem, we derive the Noether-Klein identities and adopt them for the purposes of the current work. Applying these identities in the framework of Lovelock theory, we construct conserved c…
In this thesis, we explore the possibility to define black hole mass in terms of the Weyl tensor for the entire family of Lovelock-AdS gravity theories. The level of degeneracy $k$ of the corresponding vacuum fixes the number of curvatures that should appear in the energy formula. Therefore, the charge expression which is a polynomial of maximal degree in the curvature, can be consistently truncated to an order $k$ in the Weyl tensor. In particular, for the maximally degenerate case in odd dimensions (Chern-Simons AdS) the expression identically vanishes and the mass must come from the formula…
We present a kind of generalized Vaidya solutions in a generic Lovelock gravity. This solution generalizes the simple case in Gauss-Bonnet gravity reported recently by some authors. We study the thermodynamics of apparent horizon in this generalized Vaidya spacetime. Treating those terms except for the Einstein tensor as an effective energy-momentum tensor in the gravitational field equations, and using the unified first law in Einstein gravity theory, we obtain an entropy expression for the apparent horizon. We also obtain an energy expression of this spacetime, which coincides with the gener…
In this paper, we derive the master equations for gravitational perturbations of vector and scalar type for static vacuum Lovelock black holes. Together with our previous work on the tensor type perturbation, we now provide the full set of master equations that governs all types of gravitational perturbations of static vacuum Lovelock black holes in any dimensions.
Although gravitational actions diverge in asymptotically AdS spacetimes, boundary counterterms can be added in order to cancel out those divergences; such counterterms are known in general to third order in the Riemann tensor for the Einstein-Hilbert action. Considering foliations of AdS with an $S^m \times H^{d-m}$ boundary, we discuss a simple algorithm which we use to generate counterterms up to sixth order in the Riemann tensor, for the Einstein-Hilbert, Gauss-Bonnet and third-order-Lovelock Lagrangians. We also comment on other theories such as $F(R)$ gravity.
We present a new class of black hole solutions in third-order Lovelock gravity whose horizons are Einstein space with two supplementary conditions on their Weyl tensors. These solutions are obtained with the advantage of higher curvature terms appearing in Lovelock gravity. We find that while the solution of third-order Lovelock gravity with constant-curvature horizon in the absence of a mass parameter is the anti de Sitter (AdS) metric, this kind of solution with nonconstant- curvature horizon is only asymptotically AdS and may have horizon. We also find that one may have an extreme black hol…
In this short note we wonder about the explicit expression of the expanding of the $p$-th Lovelock product. We use the 1990's works of S. A. Fulling et al. on the symmetries of the Riemann tensor, and we show that the number of independent scalars appearing in this expanding is equal to the number of Young diagrams with all row lengths even in the decomposition of the $p$-th plethysm of the Young diagram representing the symmetries of the Riemann tensor.
We discuss a method of calculating the various scalar densities encountered in Lovelock theory which relies on diagrammatic, instead of algebraic manipulations. Taking advantage of the known symmetric and antisymmetric properties of the Riemann tensor which appears in the Lovelock densities, we map every quadratic or higher contraction into a corresponding permutation diagram. The derivation of the explicit form of each density is then reduced to identifying the distinct diagrams, from which we can also read off the overall combinatoric factors. The method is applied to the first Lovelock dens…
We study motion around a static Einstein and pure Lovelock black hole in higher dimensions. It is known that in higher dimensions, bound orbits exist only for pure Lovelock black hole in all even dimensions, D=2N+2, where N is degree of Lovelock polynomial action. In particular, we compute periastron shift and light bending and the latter is given by one of transverse spatial components of Riemann curvature tensor. We also consider pseudo-Newtonian potentials and Kruskal coordinates.
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…
Generalization of a known theorem to generate static, spherically symmetric black-hole solutions in higher dimensional Lovelock gravity is presented. Particular limits, such as Gauss-Bonnet (GB) and/or Einstein-Hilbert (EH) in any dimension $N$ yield all the solutions known to date with an energy-momentum. In our generalization, with special emphasis on the third order Lovelock gravity, we have found two different class of solutions characterized by the matter field parameter. Several particular cases are studied and properties related to asymptotic behaviours are discussed. Our general soluti…
We study dynamical structure of Pure Lovelock gravity in spacetime dimensions higher than four using the Hamiltonian formalism. The action consists of cosmological constant and a single higher-order polynomial in the Riemann tensor. Similarly to Einstein-Hilbert action, it possesses a unique constant curvature vacuum and charged black hole solutions. We analyze physical degrees of freedom and local symmetries in this theory. In contrast to the Einstein-Hilbert case, a number of degrees of freedom depends on the background and can vary from zero to the maximal value carried by the Lovelock theo…
The regularized four-dimensional Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet model has been recently proposed in [D. Glavan and C. Lin, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{124}, 081301 (2020)] whose formulation is different of the Einstein theory, allowing us to bypass the Lovelock theorem. The action is formulated in higher dimensions ($D>4$) by adding the Gauss-Bonnet correction to the conventional Einstein-Hilbert action with a cosmological constant. The four-dimensional spacetime is constructed through dimensional regularization by taking the limit $D\rightarrow 4$. We find explicitly the parametric regions of stability o…
We study the stability of static black holes in Lovelock theory which is a natural higher dimensional generalization of Einstein theory. We show that Lovelock black holes are stable under vector perturbations in all dimensions. However, we prove that small Lovelock black holes are unstable under tensor perturbations in even-dimensions and under scalar perturbations in odd-dimensions. Therefore, we can conclude that small Lovelock black holes are unstable in any dimensions. The instability is stronger on small scales and hence catastrophic in the sense that there is no smooth descendant.
In this paper, we obtain the lower-dimensional limits $(p=2,3,4,5,6)$ of cubic Lovelock gravity through a regularized Kaluza-Klein reduction. By taking a flat internal space for simplicity, we also study the static black hole solutions in the resulting theories. We show that the solutions match with the ones obtained from the "naive limit" of $D$-dimensional equation for the metric function, which is obtained by first scaling the relevant couplings by a factor of $\frac{1}{D-p}$ and then taking the limit $D\to p$, with one important exception: In 4D, one obtains the expected solution only for …
We show that the Lovelock type brane gravity is naturally holographic by providing a correspondence between bulk and surface terms that appear in the Lovelock-type brane gravity action functional. We prove the existence of relationships between the $\mathcal{L}_{\mbox{\tiny bulk}}$ and $\mathcal{L}_{\mbox{\tiny surf}}$ allowing $\mathcal{L}_{\mbox{\tiny surf}}$ to be determined completely by $\mathcal{L}_{\mbox{\tiny bulk}}$. In the same spirit, we provide relationships among the various conserved tensors that this theory possesses. We further comment briefly on the correspondence between geom…
It is shown that the notion of Conformal Mass can be defined within a given anti-de Sitter (AdS) branch of a Lovelock gravity theory as long as the corresponding vacuum is not degenerate. Indeed, conserved charges obtained by the addition of Kounterterms to the bulk action turn out to be proportional to the electric part of the Weyl tensor, when the fall-off of a generic solution in that AdS branch is considered. The factor of proportionality is the degeneracy condition for the vacua in the particular Lovelock AdS theory under study. This last feature explains the obstruction to define Conform…
We show that the scalar-tensor theory that arises in a rigorous $D \to 3$ limit of Lovelock gravity up to cubic order admits a holographic c-theorem and verify that the value of the c-function at the UV fixed point matches with the Weyl anomaly coefficient (up to an irrelevant factor). The constructed c-function is the same as one that follows from the "naive limit", which is obtained by scaling the couplings by a factor of $\frac{1}{D-3}$, and then setting $D=3$.
We extend the Birkhoff's theorem in Lovelock gravity for arbitrary base manifolds using an elementary method. In particular, it is shown that any solution of the form of a warped product of a two-dimensional transverse space and an arbitrary base manifold must be static. Moreover, the field equations restrict the base manifold such that all the non-trivial intrinsic Lovelock tensors of the base manifold are constants, which can be chosen arbitrarily, and the metric in the transverse space is determined by a single function of a spacelike coordinate which satisfies an algebraic equation involvi…
We study the Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction of the Lovelock-Cartan theory in five-dimensional spacetime, with a compact dimension of $S^1$ topology. We find cosmological solutions of the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker class in the reduced spacetime. The torsion and the fields arising from the dimensional reduction induce a nonvanishing energy-momentum tensor in four dimensions. We find solutions describing expanding, contracting and bouncing universes. The model shows a dynamical compactification of the extra dimension in some regions of the parameter space.
We construct a familly of exact solutions of Lovelock equations describing codimension four branes with discrete symmetry in the transverse space. Unlike what is known from pure Einstein gravity, where such brane solutions of higher codimension are singular, the solutions we find, for the complete Lovelock theory, only present removable singularities. The latter account for a localised tension-like energy-momentum tensor on the brane, in analogy with the case of a codimension two self-gravitating cosmic string in pure Einstein gravity. However, the solutions we discuss present two main distinc…
We examine the stability of charged Lovelock black hole solutions under vector type and scalar type perturbations. We find the suitable master variables for the stability analysis; the equations for these variables are the Schrodinger type equations with two components and these Schrodinger operators are symmetric. By these master equations, we show that charged Lovelock Black holes are stable under vector type perturbations. For scalar type perturbations, we show the criteria for the instability and check these numerically. In our previous paper, we have shown that nearly extremal black holes…
The Lanczos-Lovelock models of gravity constitute the most general theories of gravity in D dimensions which satisfy (a) the principle of of equivalence, (b) the principle of general co-variance, and (c) have field equations involving derivatives of the metric tensor only up to second order. The mth order Lanczos-Lovelock Lagrangian is a polynomial of degree m in the curvature tensor. The field equations resulting from it become trivial in the critical dimension $D = 2m$ and the action itself can be written as the integral of an exterior derivative of an expression involving the vierbeins, in …
We derive an expression for conserved charges in Lovelock AdS gravity for solutions having $k$-fold degenerate vacua, making manifest a link between the degeneracy of a given vacuum and the nonlinearity of the energy formula. We show for a black hole solution to the field equations on a branch of multiplicity $k$ that its mass comes from an expression that contains the product of $k$ Weyl tensors. We prove that all divergent contributions of the type (Weyl)$^q$, with $1\le q<k$, are suppressed. Our conserved charge definition is a natural generalization of the Conformal Mass by Ashtekar, Magno…
A theory of gravity in higher dimensions is considered. The usual Einstein-Hilbert action is supplemented with Lovelock terms, of higher order in the curvature tensor. These terms are important for the low energy action of string theories. The intersection of hypersurfaces is studied in the Lovelock theory. The study is restricted to hypersurfaces of co-dimension 1, $(d-1)$-dimensional submanifolds in a $d$-dimensional space-time. It is found that exact thin shells of matter are admissible, with a mild form of curvature singularity: the first derivative of the metric is discontinuous across th…
Lanczos-Lovelock models of gravity represent a natural and elegant generalization of Einstein's theory of gravity to higher dimensions. They are characterized by the fact that the field equations only contain up to second derivatives of the metric even though the action functional can be a quadratic or higher degree polynomial in the curvature tensor. Because these models share several key properties of Einstein's theory they serve as a useful set of candidate models for testing the emergent paradigm for gravity. This review highlights several geometrical and thermodynamical aspects of Lanczos…
A Palatini-type action for Einstein and Gauss-Bonnet gravity with non-trivial torsion is proposed. Three-form flux is incorporated via a deformation of the Riemann tensor, and consistency of the Palatini variational principle requires the flux to be covariantly constant and to satisfy a Jacobi identity. Studying gravity actions of third order in the curvature leads to a conjecture about general Palatini-Lovelock-Cartan gravity. We point out potential relations to string-theoretic Bianchi identities and, using the Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket, derive a set of Bianchi identities for the non-geomet…
According to Lovelock's theorem, the Hilbert-Einstein and the Lovelock actions are indistinguishable from their field equations. However, they have different scalar-tensor counterparts, which correspond to the Brans-Dicke and the \emph{Lovelock-Brans-Dicke} (LBD) gravities, respectively. In this paper the LBD model of alternative gravity with the Lagrangian density $\mathscr{L}_{\text{LBD}}=\frac{1}{16π}\left[ϕ\left( R +\frac{a}{\sqrt{-g}}{}^*RR + b\mathcal{G}\right)-\frac{ω_{\text{L}}}ϕ\nabla_αϕ\nabla^αϕ\right]$ is developed, where ${}^*RR$ and $\mathcal{G}$ respectively denote the topologica…
