Cosmology of non-local f(R) gravity

Abstract

We consider a modification of GR with a special type of a non-local f(R). The structure of the non-local operators is motivated by the string field theory and p-adic string theory. The spectrum is derived explicitly and the ghost-free condition for the model is formulated. We pay special attention to the classical stability of the de Sitter solution in our model and formulate the conditions on the model parameters to have a stable configuration. Relevance of unstable configurations for the description of the de Sitter phase during inflation is specifically discussed.