# Higher curvature gravities, unlike GR, cannot be bootstrapped from their (usual) linearizations

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that higher curvature gravity theories cannot be reconstructed from their linearized forms via self-coupling, unlike General Relativity, which can be derived this way, highlighting a fundamental difference.

## Contribution

It establishes that higher curvature gravities cannot be obtained through the self-coupling bootstrap from linearized theories, unlike GR, revealing a key limitation in their derivation.

## Key findings

- Higher curvature gravities cannot be derived from linearizations via self-coupling.
- Only General Relativity can be reconstructed through this bootstrap method.
- The paper comments on an early version of the self-coupling bootstrap approach.

## Abstract

We show that higher curvature order gravities, in particular the propagating quadratic curvature models, cannot be derived by self-coupling from their linear, flat space, forms, except through an unphysical version of linearization; only GR can. Separately, we comment on an early version of the self-coupling bootstrap.