Galileons as the Scalar Analogue of General Relativity

Abstract

We establish a correspondence between general relativity with diffeomorphism invariance and scalar field theories with Galilean invariance: notions such as the Levi-Civita connection and the Riemann tensor have a Galilean counterpart. This suggests Galilean theories as the unique nontrivial alternative to gauge theories (including general relativity). Moreover, it is shown that the requirement of first-order Palatini formalism uniquely determines the Galileon models with second-order field equations, similar to the Lovelock gravity theories. Possible extensions are discussed.

6 pages, v2: Version appeared in Phys. Rev. D

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• Compact Stars in Vector-Tensor-Horndeski Theory of Gravity