Galileons on Cosmological Backgrounds

Abstract

We construct four-dimensional effective field theories of a generalized DBI galileon field, the dynamics of which naturally take place on a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime. The theories are invariant under non-linear symmetry transformations, which can be thought of as being inherited from five-dimensional bulk Killing symmetries via the probe brane technique through which they are constructed. The resulting model provides a framework in which to explore the cosmological role that galileons may play as the universe evolves.