Born-Infeld Type Extension of (Non-)Critical Gravity

Abstract: We consider the Born-Infeld type extension of (non-)critical gravity which is higher curvature gravity on Anti de-Sitter space with specific combinations of scalar curvature and Ricci tensor. This theory may also be viewed as a natural extension of three-dimensional Born-Infeld new massive gravity to arbitrary dimensions. We show that this extension is consistent with holographic $c$-theorem and scalar graviton modes are absent in this theory. After showing that ghost modes in the theory can be truncated consistently by appropriate boundary conditions, we argue that the theory is classically equivalent to Einstein gravity at the non-linear level. Black hole solutions are discussed in the view point of the full non-linear classical equivalence between the theory and Einstein gravity. Holographic entanglement entropy in the theory is also briefly commented on.