Higher-derivative operators and effective field theory for general scalar-tensor theories

2017/09/27 by Adam R. Solomon, Mark Trodden · 2 voices · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #astro-ph.CO #gr-qc #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2018/02/031

openalex publication_date 2018/02/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

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 demonstrate how and when higher-derivative operators can be cast into lower-derivative forms suitable for numerical solution techniques.

Citations

• Second-order scalar-tensor field equations in a four-dimensional space

Cited by

• Chiral primordial gravitational waves in extended theories of Scalar-Tensor gravity

Discussions

• Back at my computer now so I found the reference I was thinking of, arxiv.org/abs/1709.09695 . Check the example in Sec IIB [bsky, 4 points, 1 comments]
• Six months late but I do! arxiv.org/abs/1709.09695 [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]

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