The Yang-Mills gradient flow for QCD-like theories is generalized by including a fermionic matter term in the gauge field flow equation. We combine this with two different flow equations for the fermionic degrees of freedom. The solutions for the different gradient flow setups are used in the perturbative computations of the vacuum expectation value of the Yang-Mills Lagrangian density and the field renormalization factor of the evolved fermions up to next-to-leading order in the coupling. We find a one-parameter family of flow systems for which there exists a renormalization scheme in which the evolved fermion anomalous dimension vanishes to all orders in perturbation theory. The fermion number dependence of different flows is studied and applications to lattice studies are anticipated.
We derive multipolar equations of motion for gravitational theories with general nonminimal coupling in spacetimes admitting torsion. Our very general findings allow for the systematic testing of whole classes of theories by means of extended test bodies. One peculiar feature of certain subclasses of nonminimal theories turns out to be their sensitivity to post-Riemannian spacetime structures even in experiments without microstructured test matter.
We derive the equations of motion of test bodies for a theory with nonminimal coupling by means of a multipole method. The propagation equations for pole-dipole particles are worked out for a gravity theory with a very general coupling between the curvature scalar and the matter fields. Our results allow for a systematic comparison with the equations of motion of general relativity and other gravity theories.
We give the superfield quantization of chiral/nonminimal (CNM) scalar multiplets defined by pairs of N=1 chiral and complex linear scalar superfields kinematically coupled. In the pure massive case we develop the covariant quantization when CNM multiplets are coupled to background gauge superfields. Furthermore, we study some properties of N=1 supersymmetric Yang--Mills theories constructed using CNM scalar matter superfields. In particular, we compute the one--loop contribution to the effective action for the matter superfields, we study the analogue of the Konishi anomaly and discuss some pr…
We present a covariant derivation of the equations of motion for test bodies for a wide class of gravitational theories with nonminimal coupling, encompassing a general interaction via the complete set of 9 parity-even curvature invariants. The equations of motion for spinning test bodies in such theories are explicitly derived by means of Synge's expansion technique. Our findings generalize previous results in the literature and allow for a direct comparison to the general relativistic equations of motion of pole-dipole test bodies.
We study black hole solutions in an extension of General Relativity (GR) with an explicit non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature. General black hole solutions satisfying the known energy conditions are derived including the ones with anti-de Sitter background. These solutions differ from those of GR just by a coupling function dependent rescaling of the mass and charge of the black hole and by a "dressing" of the cosmological constant. The existence of black hole solutions of the nonminimally coupled theory as well as the conditions for a suitable weak field limit are considered as …
In this paper we demonstrate that Boltzmann's $H$-theorem does not necessarily hold in the context of theories of gravity with nonminimally coupled matter fields. We find sufficient conditions for the violation of Boltzmann's $H$-theorem and derive an expression for the evolution of Boltzmann's $H$ in terms of the nonminimal coupling function, valid in the case of a collisionless gas in a homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker universe. We highlight the implications of this result for the evolution of the entropy of the matter fields, briefly discussing the role played b…
Within a four dimensional N = 1 superspace, we present a new ansatz for the Skyrme term and for the gauged WZNW term embedded into a superaction. We use the new chiral-nonminimal (CNM) formulation for the effective low-energy action of 4D, N = 1 supersymmetric QCD constructed by assigning right-handed components of Dirac fields to chiral multiplets and left-handed components of Dirac fields to nonminimal multiplets. It is noted that such a construction likely allows for a new type of parity violation in low-energy 4D, N = 1 supersymmetric QCD.
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…
The Schramm-Loewner evolution (SLE) is a powerful tool to describe fractal interfaces in 2D critical statistical systems. Yet the application of SLE is well established for statistical systems described by quantum field theories satisfying only conformal invariance, the so called minimal conformal field theories (CFTs). We consider interfaces in Z(N) spin models at their self-dual critical point for N=4 and N=5. These lattice models are described in the continuum limit by non-minimal CFTs where the role of a Z_N symmetry, in addition to the conformal one, should be taken into account. We provi…
We study the Vainshtein screening mechanism in Horndeski theories in the presence of a scalar field $ϕ$ nonminimally and kinetically coupled to ordinary matter field. A general interacting Lagrangian describing this coupling is characterized by energy transfer $f_1$ and momentum exchange $f_2$. For a spherically symmetric configurations on top of the cosmological background, we investigate the static perturbations in linear and nonlinear regimes with respect to the scalar field perturbation. In the former regime, the parametrized post-Newtonian parameter generally deviates from unity as long a…
We construct gravitational modifications that go beyond Horndeski, namely theories with extended nonminimal derivative couplings, in which the coefficient functions depend not only on the scalar field but also on its kinetic energy. Such theories prove to be ghost-free in a cosmological background. We investigate the early-time cosmology and show that a de Sitter inflationary phase can be realized as a pure result of the novel gravitational couplings. Additionally, we study the late-time evolution, where we obtain an effective dark energy sector which arises from the scalar field and its exten…
It is well known that one cannot apply a conformal transformation to $f(T)$ gravity to obtain a minimally coupled scalar field model, and thus no Einstein frame exists for $f(T)$ gravity. Furthermore nonminimally coupled "teleparallel dark energy models" are not conformally equivalent to $f(T)$ gravity. However, it can be shown that $f(T)$ gravity is conformally equivalent to a teleparallel phantom scalar field model with a nonminimal coupling to a boundary term only. In this work, we extend this analysis by considering a recently studied extended class of models, known as $f(T,B)$ gravity, wh…
We discuss nonminimal couplings of fermions to the electromagnetic field, which generically appear in models with extra dimensions. We consider models where the electromagnetic field is generated by the Kaluza-Klein mechanism. The nonminimal couplings contribute at tree-level to anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of fermions. We use recent measurements of these quantities to put limits on the parameters of models with extra dimensions.
In this paper we show that the on-shell Lagrangian of a perfect fluid depends on microscopic properties of the fluid, giving specific examples of perfect fluids with different on-shell Lagrangians but with the same energy-momentum tensor. We demonstrate that if the fluid is constituted by localized concentrations of energy with fixed rest mass and structure (solitons) then the average on-shell Lagrangian of a perfect fluid is given by ${\mathcal L}_m=T$, where $T$ is the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. We show that our results have profound implications for theories of gravity where the m…
In this paper, we discuss the chiral anomaly in a Lorentz-breaking extension of QED which, besides the common terms that are present in the Standard Model Extension, includes some dimension-five nonminimal couplings. We find, using the Fujikawa formalism, that these nonminimal couplings induce new terms in the anomaly which depend on the Lorentz-violating parameters. Perturbative calculations are also carried out in order to investigate whether or not new ambiguous Carroll-Field-Jackiw terms are induced in the effective action.
Alternative theories of gravity and their solutions are of considerable importance since at some fundamental level the world can reveal new features. Indeed, it is suspected that the gravitational field might be nonminimally coupled to the other fields at scales not yet probed, bringing into the forefront nonminimally coupled theories. In this mode, we consider a nonminimal Einstein-Yang-Mills theory with a cosmological constant. Imposing spherical symmetry and staticity for the spacetime and a magnetic Wu-Yang ansatz for the Yang-Mills field, we find expressions for the solutions of the theor…
We source the Lovelock gravity theories indexed by an integer k and fixed by requiring a unique anti-de Sitter vacuum with a self-interacting nonminimal scalar field in arbitrary dimension d. For each inequivalent Lovelock gravity theory indexed by the integer k, we establish the existence of a two-parametric self-interacting potential that permits to derive a class of black hole solutions with planar horizon for any arbitrary value of the nonminimal coupling parameter. In the thermodynamical analysis of the solution, we show that, once regularized the Euclidean action, the mass contribution c…
In the context of nonminimally coupled $f(R)$ gravity theories, we study early inflation driven by a nonlinear monopole magnetic field which is nonminimally coupled to curvature. In order to isolate the effects of the nonminimal coupling between matter and curvature we assume the pure gravitational sector to have the Einstein-Hilbert form. Thus, we study the most simple model with a nonminimal coupling function which is linear in the Ricci scalar. From an effective fluid description, we show the existence of an early exponential expansion regime of the Universe, followed by a transition to a r…
Field theories with spontaneous Lorentz violation involving an antisymmetric 2-tensor are studied. A general action including nonminimal gravitational couplings is constructed, and features of the Nambu-Goldstone and massive modes are discussed. Minimal models in Minkowski spacetime exhibit dualities with Lorentz-violating vector and scalar theories. The post-newtonian expansion for nonminimal models in Riemann spacetime involves qualitatively new features, including the absence of an isotropic limit. Certain interactions producing stable Lorentz-violating theories in Minkowski spacetime solve…
How to detect spacetime torsion? In this essay we provide the theoretical basis for an answer to this question. Multipolar equations of motion for a very general class of gravitational theories with nonminimal coupling in spacetimes admitting torsion are given. Our findings provide a framework for the systematic testing of whole classes of theories with the help of extended test bodies. One surprising feature of nonminimal theories turns out to be their potential sensitivity to torsion of spacetime even in experiments with ordinary (not microstructured) test matter.
A simple formula for one-loop logarithmic divergences on the background of a two-dimensional curved space-time is derived for theories for which the second variation of the action is a nonminimal second order operator with small nonminimal terms. In particular, this formula allows to calculate terms which are integrals of total derivatives. As an application of the result, one-loop divergences for the higher spin fields on the constant curvature background are obtained in a nonminimal gauge, which depends on two parameters. By an explicit calculation we demonstrate that with the considered acc…
We present a novel theory of gravity by considering an extension of symmetric teleparallel gravity. This is done by introducing, in the framework of the metric-affine formalism, a new class of theories where the nonmetricity $Q$ is nonminimally coupled to the matter Lagrangian. More specifically, we consider a Lagrangian of the form $L \sim f_1(Q) + f_2(Q) L_M$, where $f_1$ and $f_2$ are generic functions of $Q$, and $L_M$ is the matter Lagrangian. This nonminimal coupling entails the nonconservation of the energy-momentum tensor, and consequently the appearance of an extra force. The motivati…
For the exploration of the phase diagram of QCD, effective Polyakov loop theories derived from lattice QCD provide a valuable tool in the heavy quark mass regime. In practice, the evaluation of these theories is complicated by the appearance of long-range and multipoint interaction terms. On the other hand, it is well known that for theories with such kind of interactions mean field approximations can be expected to yield reliable results. Here, we apply this framework to the critical endpoint of the deconfinement transition and results are compared to the literature. This treatment can also b…
We derive the field equations and the equations of motion for massive test particles in modified theories of gravity with an arbitrary coupling between geometry and matter by using the Palatini formalism. We show that the independent connection can be expressed as the Levi-Civita connection of an auxiliary, matter Lagrangian dependent metric, which is related with the physical metric by means of a conformal transformation. Similarly to the metric case, the field equations impose the non-conservation of the energy-momentum tensor. We derive the explicit form of the equations of motion for massi…
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…
QCD with a finite baryon chemical potential, despite its importance, is not well understood because the standard lattice QCD simulation is not applicable due to the sign problem. Although sign-free QCD-like theories have been studied intensively, relation to QCD with a finite baryon chemical potential was not clear until recently. In this talk we explain the large-Nc equivalences between QCD and various QCD-like theories, which lead us to a unified viewpoint for QCD with baryon and isospin chemical potentials, SO(2Nc) and Sp(2Nc) gauge theories. In particular two-flavor QCD with the baryon che…
We argue that the whole or the part of the phase diagrams of QCD and QCD-like theories should be universal in the large-N_c limit through the orbifold equivalence. The whole phase diagrams, including the chiral phase transitions and the BEC-BCS crossover regions, are identical between SU(N_c) QCD at finite isospin chemical potential and SO(2N_c) and Sp(2N_c) gauge theories at finite baryon chemical potential. Outside the BEC-BCS crossover region in these theories, the phase diagrams are also identical to that of SU(N_c) QCD at finite baryon chemical potential. We give examples of the universal…
We show the universality of phase diagrams in QCD and QCD-like theories through the large-N_c equivalence. The whole phase diagrams are identical between QCD at finite isospin chemical potential and SO(2N_c) and Sp(2N_c) gauge theories at finite baryon chemical potential. In the chiral limit, they are also identical to that of QCD at finite chiral chemical potential. Outside the pion or diquark condensed phase in these theories, the universality of phase diagrams is applicable to QCD at finite baryon chemical potential. We further argue that the universality may work approximately even for N_c…
We analyze the effect of multitrace deformations in conformal field theories at leading order in a large N approximation. These theories admit a description in terms of a weakly coupled gravity dual. We show how the deformations can be mapped into boundary terms of the gravity theory and how to reproduce the RG equations found in field theory. In the case of doubletrace deformations, and for bulk scalars with masses in the range $-d^2/4<m^2<-d^2/4+1$, the deformed theory flows between two fixed points of the renormalization group, manifesting a resonant behavior at the scale characterizing the…
We obtain topological black hole solutions in scalar-tensor gravity with nonminimal derivative coupling between scalar and tensor components of gravity and power-law Maxwell field minimally coupled to gravity. The obtained solutions can be treated as a generalization of previously derived charged solutions with standard Maxwell action \cite{Feng_PRD16}. We examine the behaviour of obtained metric functions for some asymptotic values of distance and coupling. To obtain information about singularities of the metrics we calculate Kretschmann scalar. We also examine the behaviour of gauge potentia…
The dynamics with an infrared stable fixed point in the conformal window in QCD like theories with a relatively large number of fermion flavors is reviewed. The emphasis is on the description of a clear signature for the conformal window, which in particular can be useful for lattice computer simulations of these gauge theories.
In these lectures I review some basic examples of how the concepts of universality and scaling can be used to study aspects of the chiral and the deconfinement transition, if not in QCD directly but in QCD-like theories. As an example for flavor dynamics I discuss a quark-hadron model to describe the phase diagram of two-color QCD with the functional renormalization group. Universal aspects of deconfinement are illustrated mainly in the 2+1 dimensional SU(N) gauge theories with second order transition where many exact results from spin models can be exploited.
The dynamics with an infrared stable fixed point in the conformal window in QCD like theories (with a relatively large number of fermion flavors) is studied. The dependence of masses of colorless bound states on a bare fermion mass is described. In particular it is shown that in such dynamics, glueballs are much lighter than bound states composed of fermions, if the value of the infrared fixed point is not too large. This yields a clear signature for the conformal window, which is in particular can be useful for lattice computer simulations of these gauge theories.
We study the phase diagrams of $\Nc= \infty$ vector-like, asymptotically free gauge theories as a function of volume, on $S^3\times S^1$. The theories of interest are the ones with fermions in two index representations [adjoint, (anti)symmetric, and bifundamental abbreviated as QCD(adj), QCD(AS/S) and QCD(BF)], and are interrelated via orbifold or orientifold projections. The phase diagrams reveal interesting phenomena such as disentangled realizations of chiral and center symmetry, confinement without chiral symmetry breaking, zero temperature chiral transitions, and in some cases, exotic pha…
We investigate the universality of truncation schemes for Dyson-Schwinger equations developed for quantum chromodynamics in theories which differ from quantum chromodynamics only in the gauge group. Our specific choices are the gauge groups $SU(2)$ and $G_2$, for which lattice calculations at nonvanishing chemical potential are possible. Thus, corresponding calculations can provide benchmarks for testing calculations with functional equations. We calculate the quark and gluon propagators and determine the chiral and dual chiral condensates at vanishing density to determine the confinement/deco…
We discuss various models of inflationary universe with $Ω\not = 1$. A homogeneous universe with $Ω> 1$ may appear due to creation of the universe "from nothing" in the theories where the effective potential becomes very steep at large $ϕ$, or in the theories where the inflaton field $ϕ$ nonminimally couples to gravity. Inflation with $Ω< 1$ generally requires intermediate first order phase transition with the bubble formation, and with a second stage of inflation inside the bubble. It is possible to realize this scenario in the context of a theory of one scalar field, but typically it require…
Deep insights into the possible infrared dynamics of strongly-coupled nonAbelian gauge theories such as QCD come from the analyses of ${\cal N}=1$ or ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories. Central in the whole discussion will be the topological soliton monopoles and vortices and their quantum dynamics. We review the arguments that nonAbelian monopoles, free from the classic "difficulties", can be defined semi-classically via the topology and stability connection to the better understood nonAbelian vortices. Recent results on $CP^{N-1}$ models on $2D$ worldsheet of finite width, establish …
We use 2-color QCD as a model to study the effects of simultaneous presence of chemical potentials for isospin charge, $μ_I$, and for baryon number, $μ_B$. We determine the phase diagrams for 2 and 4 flavor theories using the method of effective chiral Lagrangians at low densities and weak coupling perturbation theory at high densities. We determine the values of various condensates and densities as well as the spectrum of excitations as functions of $μ_I$ and $μ_B$. A similar analysis of QCD with quarks in the adjoint representation is also presented. Our results can be of relevance for latti…
We show that in a sufficiently strong magnetic field the QCD vacuum may undergo a transition to a new phase where charged $ρ^\pm$ mesons are condensed. In this phase the vacuum behaves as an anisotropic inhomogeneous superconductor which supports superconductivity along the axis of the magnetic field. In the directions transverse to the magnetic field the superconductivity is absent. The magnetic-field-induced anisotropic superconductivity -- which is realized in the cold vacuum, i.e. at zero temperature and density -- is a consequence of a nonminimal coupling of the $ρ$ mesons to the electrom…
These are the proceedings of the workshop on ``Effective Field Theories of QCD'' held at the Physikzentrum Bad Honnef of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Bad Honnef, Germany from November 26 to 30, 2001. The workshop concentrated on Chiral Perturbation Theory in its various settings, its relations with lattice QCD and dispersion theory and the use of effective field theories in systems with one, two or more nucleons as well as at high baryon densities. Included are a short contribution per talk and a listing of some review papers on the subject.
We introduce a frame-covariant formalism for inflation of scalar-curvature theories by adopting a differential geometric approach which treats the scalar fields as coordinates living on a field-space manifold. This ensures that our description of inflation is both conformally and reparameterization covariant. Our formulation gives rise to extensions of the usual Hubble and potential slow-roll parameters to generalized fully frame-covariant forms, which allow us to provide manifestly frame-invariant predictions for cosmological observables, such as the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, the spectral i…
Massive QCD at $θ=π$ breaks CP spontaneously and admits domain walls whose dynamics and phases depend on the number of flavors and their masses. We discuss these issues within the Witten-Sakai-Sugimoto model of holographic QCD. Besides showing that this model reproduces all QCD expectations, we address two interesting claims in the literature. The first is about the possibility that the QCD domain-wall theory is fully captured by three-dimensional physics, only. The second regards the existence of quantum phases in certain Chern-Simons theories coupled to fundamental matter. Both claims are su…
In general relativity, Maxwell's equations are embedded in curved spacetime through the minimal prescription, but this could change if strong-gravity modifications are present. We show that with a nonminimal coupling between gravity and a massless vector field, nonperturbative effects can arise in compact stars. We find solutions describing stars with nontrivial vector field configurations, some of which are associated to an instability, while others are not. The vector field can be interpreted either as the electromagnetic field, or as a hidden vector field weakly coupled with the standard mo…
We review some properties of black hole structures appearing in gravity with a massless scalar field, with both minimal and nonminimal coupling. The main properties of the resulting cold black holes are described. The study of black holes in scalar-gravity systems is extended to $k$-essence theories, and some examples are explicitly worked out. In these cases, even while the existence of horizons is possible, the metric regularity requirement on the horizon implies either a cold black type structure or a singular behavior of the scalar field.
A construction of master field describing multicolour QCD is presented. The master fields for large N matrix theories satisfy to standard equations of relativistic field theory but fields are quantized according $q$-deformed commutation relations with $q=0$. These commutation relations are realized in the Boltzmannian Fock space. The master field for gauge theory does not take values in a finite-dimensional Lie algebra, however, there is a non-Abelian gauge symmetry and BRST-invariance.
Exotic states have been predicted before and after the advent of QCD. In the last decades they have been observed at accelerator experiments in the sector with two heavy quarks, at or above the quarkonium strong decay threshold and called X Y Z states. These states offer a unique possibility for investigating the dynamical properties of strongly correlated systems in QCD. I will show how an alliance of nonrelativistic effective field theories and lattice can allow us to address these states in QCD. In particular I will explain what are the opportunities and challenges of lattice QCD in this re…
We review the present status of the Anderson transition in the spectrum of the Dirac operator of QCD-like theories on the lattice. Localized modes at the low-end of the spectrum have been found in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory with overlap and staggered valence fermions as well as in Nf=2+1 QCD with staggered quarks. We draw an analogy between the transition from localized to delocalized modes in the Dirac spectrum and the Anderson transition in electronic systems. The QCD transition turns out to be in the same universality class as the transition in the corresponding Anderson model. We also specula…
It is shown that, in some non-QCD theories, there are effects shared by QCD: (i)~in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory containing a nonlinear spinor field, there is a mass gap; (ii)~in SU(3) Proca-Higgs theory, there are flux tube solutions with a longitudinal electric field required for producing a force binding quarks; (iii)~in non-Abelian Proca-Higgs theories, there exist flux tube solutions with a momentum directed along the tube axis and particlelike solutions with a nonvanishing total angular momentum created by crossed color electric and magnetic fields; in QCD, such configurations may contribute …
We are able to show that BF theories naturally emerge from the coadjoint orbits of $W_2$ and $w_\infty$ algebras which includes a Kac-Moody sector. Since QCD strings can be identified with a BF theory, we are able to show a relationship between the orbits and monopole-string solutions of QCD. Furthermore, we observe that when 4D gravitation is cast into a BF form through the use of Ashtekar variables, we are able to get order $\hbar$ contributions to gravity which can be associated with the $W_2$ anomaly. We comment on the relationship to gravitational monopoles.
A previous analysis of possible constraints of Yang-Mills instantons in the presence of spontaneous symmetry breaking is extended to supersymmetric QCD. It is again found that a constraint is necessary for the gauge field in second and fourth order of the gauge breaking parameter v. While the supersymmetric zero mode is well behaved to all orders, the lifted superconformal and quark zero modes show nonpermissible behaviour, but only at first order in v.
We study QCD-like theories with pseudoreal fermions at finite baryon density. Such theories include two-color QCD with quarks in the fundamental representation of the color group as well as any-color QCD with quarks in the adjoint color representation. In all such theories the lightest baryons are diquarks. At zero chemical potential $μ$ they are, together with the pseudoscalar mesons, the Goldstone modes of a spontaneously broken enlarged chiral symmetry group. Using symmetry principles, we derive the low-energy effective Lagrangian for these particles. We find that a second order phase trans…
We consider QCD-like theories with one massless fermion in various representations of the gauge group SU$(N)$. The theories are formulated on $R_3\times S_1$. In the decompactification limit of large $r(S_1)$ all these theories are characterized by confinement, mass gap and spontaneous breaking of a (discrete) chiral symmetry ($χ$SB). At small $r(S_1)$, in order to stabilize the vacua of these theories at a center-symmetric point, we suggest to perform a double trace deformation. With these deformation, the theories at hand are at weak coupling at small $r(S_1)$ and yet exhibit basic features …
We derive the necessary and sufficient conditions for a 2d QCD theory of massless gluons and left and right chiral quarks in arbitrary representations of a gauge group G to develop a mass gap. These results are obtained from spectral properties of the lightcone and temporal QCD Hamiltonians. The conditions can be explicitly solved, and we provide the complete list of all 2d QCD theories that have a quantum mechanical gap in the spectrum, while any other theory not in the list is gapless. The list of gapped theories includes QCD models with quarks in vector-like as well as chiral representation…
For very general scalar-field theories in which the equations of motion are at second-order, we evaluate the three-point correlation function of primordial scalar perturbations generated during inflation. We show that the shape of non-Gaussianities is well approximated by the equilateral type. The equilateral non-linear parameter f_NL^equil is derived on the quasi de Sitter background where the slow-variation parameters are much smaller than unity. We apply our formula for f_NL^equil to a number of single-field models of inflation--such as k-inflation, k-inflation with Galileon terms, potentia…
We show that the current bounds on the time variation of the Newton constant G can put severe constraints on many interesting scalar-tensor theories which possess a shift symmetry and a nonminimal matter-scalar coupling. This includes, in particular, Galileon-like models with a Vainshtein screening mechanism. We underline that this mechanism, if efficient to hide the effects of the scalar field at short distance and in the static approximation, can in general not alter the cosmological time evolution of the scalar field. This results in a locally measured time variation of G which is too large…
