Topologically massive gravity as a Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator

Abstract

We give a detailed account of the free field spectrum and the Newtonian limit of the linearized "massive" (Pauli-Fierz), "topologically massive" (Einstein-Hilbert-Chern-Simons) gravity in 2+1 dimensions about a Minkowski spacetime. For a certain ratio of the parameters, the linearized free theory is Jordan-diagonalizable and reduces to a degenerate "Pais-Uhlenbeck" oscillator which, despite being a higher derivative theory, is ghost-free.

9 pages, no figures, RevTEX4; version 2: a new paragraph and a reference added to the Introduction, a new appendix added to review Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillators; accepted for publication in Class. Quant. Grav

References in corpus (7)

• Living with Ghosts
• Benign vs malicious ghosts in higher-derivative theories
• Dirac Quantization of the Pais-Uhlenbeck Fourth Order Oscillator
• Ghost-free higher-derivative theory
• Massive, Topologically Massive, Models
• Maxwell-Chern-Simons Scalar Electrodynamics at Two Loop
• Some Quantum Aspects of Three-Dimensional Einstein-Chern-Simons-Proca Massive Gravity

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Massive Higher Derivative Gravity in D-dimensional Anti-de Sitter Spacetimes
• Canonical Structure of Higher Derivative Gravity in 3D
• Hamiltonian formalisms and symmetries of the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator
• Imaginary-Scaling versus Indefinite-Metric Quantization of the Pais-Uhlenbeck Oscillator
• Reductions of Topologically Massive Gravity I: Hamiltonian Analysis of The Second Order Degenerate Lagrangians
• Generalized Niederer's transformation for quantum Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator
• Various disguises of the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator
• Reductions of Topologically Massive Gravity II: First Order Realizations of Second Order Lagrangians
• Circularly polarized periodic gravitational wave and the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator