Are stealth scalar fields stable?
arXiv:1006.1936 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.81.124050
Abstract
Non-gravitating (stealth) scalar fields associated with Minkowski space in scalar-tensor gravity are examined. Analytical solutions for both non-minimally coupled scalar field theory and for Brans-Dicke gravity are studied and their stability with respect to tensor perturbations is assessed using a covariant and gauge-invariant formalism developed for alternative gravity. For Brans-Dicke solutions, the stability with respect to homogeneous perturbations is also studied. There are regions of parameter space corresponding to stability and other regions corresponding to instability.
10 pages, 1 table, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev, D