Invertible disformal transformations with arbitrary higher-order derivatives

Abstract

Invertible disformal transformations serve as a useful tool to explore ghost-free scalar-tensor theories. In this paper, we construct a generalization of invertible disformal transformations that involves arbitrary higher-order covariant derivatives of the scalar field. As a result, we obtain a more general class of ghost-free scalar-tensor theories than ever. Notably, our generalization is such that matter fields can be consistently coupled to these theories without introducing an unwanted extra degree of freedom in the unitary gauge.