Consistency conditions on dissipative operators in open gravity

Identify and formalize additional consistency conditions on the dissipative operators—such as those entering the tensor M_{μν} and terms like Γ(t)κ_{μν}—required to ensure a consistent deterministic dynamics within the open effective field theory of gravity.

Background

Dissipative operators play a central role in the open EFT of gravity proposed by the authors, modifying Einstein’s equations at background and perturbation levels.

Previous work has shown that only certain operator choices yield consistent dynamics. The authors explicitly flag that a complete set of consistency conditions remains to be established, which is crucial for systematically exploring the model space beyond the minimal choice used here.

References

A few foundational aspects are still under investigation, including a prescription to count propagating degrees of freedom, additional consistency conditions on dissipative operators , and the non-linear realization of gauge symmetries . In this work, we set aside these interesting open questions and instead concentrate on a minimal model, whose internal consistency has been established in .

— Phenomenology of an Open Effective Field Theory of Dark Energy  (2603.12321 - Salcedo et al., 12 Mar 2026) in Open Effective Field Theories paragraph (main text)