Higher-order gravity in higher dimensions: geometrical origins of four-dimensional cosmology?

2017

Determining cosmological field equations represents a still very debated matter and implies a wide discussion around different theoretical proposals. A suitable conceptual scheme could be represented by gravity models that naturally generalize Einstein Theory like higher order gravity theories and higher dimensional ones. Both of these two different approaches allow to define, at the effective level, Einstein field equations equipped with source-like energy momentum tensors of geometrical origin. In this paper, it is discussed the possibility to develop a five dimensional fourth order gravity model whose lower dimensional reduction could provide an interpretation of cosmological four dimens…