Ghost Condensation and Gravity in Higgs Phase

Abstract

A tachyon is considered to be sick in the context of particle mechanics, but in field theory just indicates instability of a background. We consider a similar possibility that a ghost in field theory might be just an indication of instability of a background and that it can condense to form a different background around which there is no ghost. We construct a low energy effective field theory based on the derivative expansion around the stable background. Possible applications are discussed, including dark energy, dark matter, inflation and black hole.