We study ghost-free multimetric theories for (N + 1) tensor fields with a coupling to matter and maximal global symmetry group S-N x (Z(2))(N). Their mass spectra contain a massless mode, the graviton, and N massive spin-2 modes. One of the massive modes is distinct by being the heaviest, the remaining (N - 1) massive modes are simply identical copies of each other. All relevant physics can therefore be understood from the case N = 2. Focussing on this case, we compute the full perturbative action up to cubic order and derive several features that hold to all orders in perturbation theory. The lighter massive mode does not couple to matter and neither of the massive modes decay into massless gravitons. We propose the lighter massive particle as a candidate for dark matter and investigate its phenomenology in the parameter region where the matter coupling is dominated by the massless graviton. The relic density of massive spin-2 can originate from a freeze-in mechanism or from gravitational particle production, giving rise to two different dark matter scenarios. The allowed parameter regions are very different from those in scenarios with only one massive spin-2 field and more accessible to experiments.

We show that a partially massless graviton can propagate on a large set of spacetimes which are not Einstein spacetimes. Starting from a recently constructed theory for a massive graviton that propagates the correct number of degrees of freedom on an arbitrary spacetime, we first give the full explicit form of the scalar constraint responsible for the absence of a sixth degree of freedom. We then spell out generic conditions for the constraint to be identically satisfied, so that there is a scalar gauge symmetry which makes the graviton partially massless. These simplify if one assumes that spacetime is Ricci symmetric. Under this assumption, we find explicit non-Einstein spacetimes (some, but not all, with vanishing Bach tensors) allowing for the propagation of a partially massless graviton. These include in particular the Einstein static Universe.

In this paper, we establish the correspondence between ghost-free bimetric theory and a class of higher derivative gravity actions, including conformal gravity and new massive gravity. We also characterize the relation between the respective equations of motion and classical solutions. We illustrate that, in this framework, the spin-2 ghost of higher derivative gravity at the linear level is an artifact of the truncation to a four-derivative theory. The analysis also gives a relation between the proposed partially massless ( PM) bimetric theory and conformal gravity, showing, in particular, the equivalence of their equations of motion at the four-derivative level. For the PM bimetric theory, this provides further evidence for the existence of an extra gauge symmetry and the associated loss of a propagating mode away from de Sitter backgrounds. The new symmetry is an extension of Weyl invariance, which may suggest the candidate PM bimetric theory as a possible ghost-free completion of conformal gravity.

Ghost-free bimetric theories describe nonlinear interactions of massive and massless spin-2 fields and, hence, provide a natural framework for investigating the phenomenon of partial masslessness for massive spin-2 fields at the nonlinear level. In this paper we analyse the spectrum of the ghost-free bimetric theory in arbitrary dimensions. Using a recently proposed construction, we identify the candidate nonlinear partially massless (PM) theories. It is shown that, in a 2-derivative setup, nonlinear PM theories can exist only in three and four dimensions. But on adding Lanczos-Lovelock terms to the bimetric action it is found that higher derivative nonlinear PM theories could also exist in higher dimensions. This is consistent with existing results on the direct construction of cubic vertices with PM gauge symmetry. We obtain the candidate nonlinear PM theories in five, six and eight dimensions but find that none exist in seven dimensions.

We consider the issues that arise out of interpreting the ghost-free bimetric theory as a theory of a spin-2 field coupled to gravity. This requires identifying a gravitational metric and parameterizing deviations of the resulting theory from general relativity. To this end, we first consider the most general bimetric backgrounds for which a massless and a massive spin-2 fluctuation with Fierz-Pauli mass exist. These backgrounds coincide with solutions in general relativity. Based on this, we obtain nonlinear extensions of the massive and massless spin-2 fields. The background value of the nonlinear massive field parameterizes generic deviations of the bimetric theory from GR. It is also shown that the nonlinear massless field does not have standard ghost-free matter couplings, and hence cannot represent the gravitational metric. However, an appropriate gravitational metric can still be identified in the weak gravity limit. Hence in the presence of other neutral spin-2 fields, the weak gravity limit is crucial for compatibility with general relativity. We also write down the action in terms of the nonlinear massive spin-2 field and obtain its ghost-free couplings to matter. The discussion is then generalized to multimetric theories.

We extend the notion of the Higuchi bound and partial masslessness to ghost-free nonlinear bimetric theories. This can be achieved in a simple way by first considering linear massive spin-2 perturbations around maximally symmetric background solutions, for which the linear gauge symmetry at the Higuchi bound is easily identified. Then, requiring consistency between an appropriate subset of these transformations and the dynamical nature of the backgrounds, fixes all but one parameter in the bimetric interaction potential. This specifies the theory up to the value of the Fierz-Pauli mass and leads to the unique candidate for nonlinear partially massless bimetric theory.

We obtain the general cosmological evolution equations for a classically consistent theory of bimetric gravity. Their analytic solutions are demonstrated to generically allow for a cosmic evolution starting out from a matter dominated FLRW universe and relaxing towards a de Sitter (anti-de Sitter) phase at late cosmic time. In particular, we examine a subclass of models which contain solutions that are able to reproduce the expansion history of the cosmic concordance model inspite of the nonlinear couplings of the two metrics. This is demonstrated explicitly by fitting these models to observational data from Type Ia supernovae, Cosmic Microwave Background and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations. In the appendix we comment on the relation to massive gravity.

We address some recent concerns about the absence of the Boulware-Deser ghost in the Stuckelberg formulation of nonlinear massive gravity. First we provide general arguments for why any ghost analysis in the Stuckelberg formulation has to agree with existing consistency proofs that have been carried out without using Stuckelberg fields. We then demonstrate the absence of the ghost at the completely nonlinear level in the Stuckelberg formulation of the minimal massive gravity action. The constraint that removes the ghost field and the associated secondary constraint that eliminates its conjugate momentum are computed explicitly, confirming the consistency of the theory in the Stuckelberg formulation.

Recently, a unique formulation of a classically consistent theory of massive spin-2 fields has emerged. In this thesis I address a few of the primary questions that arise once such a theory is available.

I will discuss cosmological solutions in a bimetric setup and show that, as far as the background evolution is concerned, a theory of interacting spin-2 fields remain a viable option to the mainstream ΛCDM concordance model. In general, the bimetric solutions are quite different from general relativistic solutions and hence in many situations will not be supported by observations. I highlight a particularly useful class of bimetric solutions which mimic general relativity exactly at the background level. This class of solutions is very special since it both uniquely provide the maximally symmetric vacuum solutions in the absence of matter sources as well as uniquely provide a massive Fierz-Pauli wave equation for perturbations of these backgrounds. This allow us a clear interpretation of the spectrum of perturbations in terms of mass eigenstates. I provide a nonlinear extension of these mass eigenstates into nonlinear fields which are not true mass eigenstates but still provide useful input into the theoretical understanding of the theory. These nonlinear extensions are particularly interesting both with respect to parameterizing generic deviations of the bimetric solutions to general relativistic solutions, as well as providing further insight into some unresolved questions related to ``massive gravity" in maximally symmetric backgrounds, such as the illusive nature of the Higuchi bound and its accompanying linear on-shell gauge invariance.

The special structure of the consistent interacting theory provides the basic tool to start to unravel some of the mysteries connected with spin-2 fields, with hope to reinvestigate many fundamental open questions explicitly related to the gravitational sector of field theory.

Brane Induced Gravity is regarded as a promising framework for addressing the cosmological constant problem, but it also suffers from a ghost instability for parameter values that make it phenomenologically viable. We carry out a detailed analysis of codimension > 2 models employing gauge invariant variables in a flat background approximation. It is argued that using instead a curved background sourced by the brane would not resolve the ghost issue, unless a very specific condition is satisfied (if satisfiable at all). As for other properties of the model, from an explicit analysis of the 4-dimensional graviton propagator we extract a mass, a decay width and a momentum dependent modification of the gravitational coupling for the spin 2 mode. In the flat space approximation, the mass of the problematic spin 0 ghost is instrumental in filtering out a brane cosmological constant. The mass replaces a background curvature that would have had the same function. The optical theorem is used to demonstrate the suppression of graviton leakage into the uncompactified bulk. Then, we derive the 4-dimensional effective action for gravity and show that general covariance is spontaneously broken by the bulk-brane setup. This provides a natural realization of the gravitational Higgs mechanism. We also show that the addition of extrinsic curvature dependent terms has no bearing on linearized brane gravity.