Exact solution to the “auxiliary extra-dimension” model of massive gravity

The “auxiliary extra-dimension” model was proposed in order to provide a geometrical interpretation to modifications of general relativity, in particular to non-linear massive gravity. In this context, the theory was shown to be ghost free to third order in perturbations, in the decoupling limit. In this work, we exactly solve the equation of motion in the extra dimension, to obtain a purely 4-dimensional theory. Using this solution, it is shown that the ghost appears at the fourth order and beyond. We explore potential modifications to address the ghost issue and find that their consistent implementation requires going beyond the present framework.