Higher-order brane gravity models

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive framework for higher-order brane gravity models, addressing regularization issues, deriving junction conditions, and exploring reduction to second-order theories with scalar and tensor fields.

Contribution

It introduces a novel regularization approach and derives general junction conditions for arbitrary curvature-invariant Lagrangians on the brane, including non-continuous scalaron and tensoron fields.

Findings

Regularization method avoids delta function powers in junction conditions

Derived general junction conditions for higher-order curvature models

Framework applicable to cosmological studies of brane gravity

Abstract

We discuss a very general theory of gravity, of which Lagrangian is an arbitrary function of the curvature invariants, on the brane. In general, the formulation of the junction conditions (except for Euler characteristics such as Gauss-Bonnet term) leads to the powers of the delta function and requires regularization. We suggest the way to avoid such a problem by imposing the metric and its first derivative to be regular at the brane, the second derivative to have a kink, the third derivative of the metric to have a step function discontinuity, and no sooner as the fourth derivative of the metric to give the delta function contribution to the field equations. Alternatively, we discuss the reduction of the fourth-order gravity to the second order theory by introducing extra scalar and tensor fields: the scalaron and the tensoron. In order to obtain junction conditions we apply two methods: the application of the Gauss-Codazzi formalism and the application of the generalized Gibbons-Hawking boundary terms which are appended to the appropriate actions. In the most general case we derive junction conditions without assuming the continuity of the scalaron and the tensoron on the brane. The derived junction conditions can serve studying the cosmological implications of the higher-order brane gravity models.