Ghost conditions for Gauss-Bonnet cosmologies

Abstract

We investigate the stability against inhomogeneous perturbations and the appearance of ghost modes in Gauss-Bonnet gravitational theories with a non-minimally coupled scalar field, which can be regarded as either the dilaton or a compactification modulus in the context of string theory. Through cosmological linear perturbations we extract four no-ghost and two sub-luminal constraint equations, written in terms of background quantities, which must be satisfied for consistency. We also argue that, for a general action with quadratic Riemann invariants, homogeneous and inhomogeneous perturbations are, in general, inequivalent, and that attractors in the phase space can have ghosts. These results are then generalized to a two-field configuration. Single-field models as candidates for dark energy are explored numerically and severe bounds on the parameter space of initial conditions are placed. A number of cases proposed in the literature are tested and most of them are found to be unstable or observationally unviable.

43 pages, 13 figures. Added references, corrected typos

References in corpus (34)

• Detection of the Baryon Acoustic Peak in the Large-Scale Correlation Function of SDSS Luminous Red Galaxies
• Hierarchies from Fluxes in String Compactifications
• Can the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w be less than -1?
• The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: correlation functions, peculiar velocities and the matter density of the Universe
• Dark energy in modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity: late-time acceleration and the hierarchy problem
• Gauss-Bonnet dark energy
• Adiabatic and entropy perturbations from inflation
• Progress in Lunar Laser Ranging Tests of Relativistic Gravity
• The phantom menaced: constraints on low-energy effective ghosts
• The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: The bias of galaxies and the density of the Universe
• Singularity-free cosmological solutions of the superstring effective action
• Classical evolution and quantum generation in generalized gravity theories including string corrections and tachyon: Unified analyses
• Inflation Deflation and Frame-Independence in String Cosmology
• The stability of modified gravity models
• On the Construction of Nonsingular Pre-Big-Bang and Ekpyrotic Cosmologies and the Resulting Density Perturbations
• Dark energy and cosmological solutions in second-order string gravity
• Haloes of k-Essence
• Cosmological perturbations through a simple bounce
• Generalized Gravity and a Ghost
• One-Loop Superstring Cosmology and the Non-Singular Universe
• Benign vs malicious ghosts in higher-derivative theories
• Consistent Spin-Two Coupling and Quadratic Gravitation
• Heterotic on Half-flat
• Heterotic Moduli Stabilization with Fractional Chern-Simons Invariants
• Evolution of cosmological perturbations in non-singular string cosmologies
• Cosmological Solutions of Higher-Curvature String Effective Theories with Dilatons
• Non-Trivial Vacua in Higher-Derivative Gravitation
• Ghost Constraints on Modified Gravity
• Superluminal censorship
• The failure of cosmological perturbation theory in the new ekpyrotic and cyclic ekpyrotic scenarios
• Moduli Stabilisation in Heterotic String Compactifications
• Conserved cosmological structures in the one-loop superstring effective action
• Traveling Faster than the Speed of Light in Non-Commutative Geometry
• Generality of Singularity Avoidance in Superstring Theory: Anisotropic Case

Cited by in corpus (88)

• f(R) Theories Of Gravity
• f(R) theories
• Dark Energy
• Effective Field Theory for Inflation
• k-Essence, superluminal propagation, causality and emergent geometry
• Modified gravity and its reconstruction from the universe expansion history
• Approaches to Understanding Cosmic Acceleration
• Construction of cosmologically viable f(G) gravity models
• String-inspired Gauss-Bonnet gravity reconstructed from the universe expansion history and yielding the transition from matter dominance to dark energy
• Matter density perturbations and effective gravitational constant in modified gravity models of dark energy
• Modified gravity models of dark energy
• Matter instability in modified gravity
• The (pseudo)issue of the conformal frame revisited
• Gauss-Bonnet Quintessence: Background Evolution, Large Scale Structure and Cosmological Constraints
• de Sitter space and the equivalence between f(R) and scalar-tensor gravity
• Separating Dark Physics from Physical Darkness: Minimalist Modified Gravity vs. Dark Energy
• Solar system constraints on f(G) gravity models
• A viability criterion for modified gravity with an extra force
• Observational constraints on Galileon cosmology
• Non-perturbative Gravity, Hagedorn Bounce & CMB
• Power spectra from an inflaton coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet term
• A bird's eye view of f(R)-gravity
• Viable Inflation in Scalar-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity and Reconstruction from Observational Indices
• Route to nonlocal cosmology
• Gauss-Bonnet cosmologies: crossing the phantom divide and the transition from matter dominance to dark energy
• String-inspired cosmology: Late time transition from scaling matter era to dark energy universe caused by a Gauss-Bonnet coupling
• On the Stability of a class of Modified Gravitational Models
• Observational constraints on phantom-like braneworld cosmologies
• Detailed balance in Horava-Lifshitz gravity
• Solar System Constraints on Gauss-Bonnet Mediated Dark Energy
• Nonlocal gravity and the diffusion equation
• Delicate f(R) gravity models with disappearing cosmological constant and observational constraints on the model parameters
• Anomaly-free cosmological perturbations in effective canonical quantum gravity
• Vacuum structure for scalar cosmological perturbations in Modified Gravity Models
• Constraints on scalar-tensor theory of gravity by the recent observational results on gravitational waves
• The Cauchy problem of f(R) gravity
• Matter instabilities in general Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• Some implications of signature-change in cosmological models of loop quantum gravity
• Newtonian, Post Newtonian and Parameterized Post Newtonian limits of f(R, G) gravity
• Viable Inflationary Models in a Ghost-free Gauss-Bonnet Theory of Gravity
• One-loop effective action for non-local modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity in de Sitter space
• Dynamical analysis on $f(R,\mathcal{G})$ cosmology
• Reconstruction of the Scalar Field Potential in Inflationary Models with a Gauss-Bonnet term
• On the non-attractive character of gravity in f(R) theories
• Measuring the propagation speed of gravitational waves with LISA
• UV stable, Lorentz-violating dark energy with transient phantom era
• Braneworld dynamics in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• Early-time cosmological solutions in Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theory
• Dark energy: investigation and modeling
• Realizing Scale-invariant Density Perturbations in Low-energy Effective String Theory
• Cosmological perturbation in f(R,G) theories with a perfect fluid
• Inflation in mimetic f(G) gravity
• Tackling Higher Derivative Ghosts with the Euclidean Path Integral
• Dark energy generated from a (super)string effective action with higher order curvature corrections and a dynamical dilaton
• Observational constraints on non-minimally coupled Galileon model
• Cosmic acceleration and crossing of $\omega =-1$ in non-minimal modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• The accelerating universe and a limiting curvature proposal
• Accelerating Universe and Cosmological Perturbation in the Ghost Condensate
• Dark energy, gravitation and supernovae
• Position and frequency shifts induced by massive modes of the gravitational wave background in alternative gravity
• Cosmological reconstructed solutions in extended teleparallel gravity theories with a teleparallel Gauss-Bonnet term
• Unsuccessful cosmology with Modified Gravity Models
• Phase space of modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• Reconstruction of GR cosmological solutions in modified gravity theories
• Homogeneous cosmologies in generalized modified gravity
• A Note on the Viability of Gauss-Bonnet Cosmology
• Gauss-Bonnet Term on Vacuum Decay
• Observational Bounds on Modified Gravity Models
• Casimir Dark Energy, Stabilization of the Extra Dimensions and Gauss-Bonnet Term
• Liouville-like solutions in dilaton gravity with Gauss-Bonnet modifications
• The Cosmology of a Universe with Spontaneously-Broken Lorentz Symmetry
• Features of warped geometry in presence of Gauss-Bonnet coupling
• Further Refining Swampland dS Conjecture in Mimetic f(G) Gravity
• Cosmological stability in $f(\varphi ,\mathcal{G})$ gravity
• Supernova, baryon acoustic oscillations, and CMB surface distance constraints on f(G) higher order gravity models
• A primer on problems and prospects of dark energy
• Testing theories of Gravity and Supergravity with inflation and observations of the cosmic microwave background
• Functional Determinants in Higher Derivative Lagrangian Theories
• A minimal set of invariants as a systematic approach to higher order gravity models: Physical and Cosmological Constraints
• Some Adventures in the Search for a Modified Gravity Explanation for Cosmic Acceleration
• Generalized second law of thermodynamics on the apparent horizon in modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• Coupled vector Gauss-Bonnet theories and hairy black holes
• Ghosts in higher derivative Maxwell-Chern-Simon's theory and $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}-$symmetry
• Causal cosmology with braneworld gravity including Gauss Bonnet coupling
• Cosmic acceleration and the challenge of modifying gravity
• Local and Nonlocal Thermal Field Theory
• Constraints on a scalar-tensor model with Gauss-Bonnet coupling from SN Ia and BAO observations
• $f(R,\mathcal{G})$-cosmological dynamics in the FLRW background