Connection dynamics of higher-dimensional scalar-tensor theories of gravity

The scalar-tensor theories (STTs) of gravity in spacetime dimensions (D+1)>2 are studied. By performing Hamiltonian analysis, we obtain the geometrical dynamics of the theories from their Lagrangian. The Hamiltonian formalism indicates that the theories are naturally divided into two sectors by the coupling parameter ω. The Hamiltonian structures in both sectors are similar to the corresponding structures of four-dimensional cases. It turns out that, similar to the case of general relativity (GR), there is also a symplectic reduction from the canonical structure of so(D+1) Yang-Mills theories coupled to the scalar field to the canonical structure of the geometrical STTs. Therefore, the non-perturbative loop quantum (LQG) gravity techniques can also be applied to the STTs in D+1 dimensions based on their connection-dynamical formalism.