Massive Galileons and Vainshtein screening

The Vainshtein screening mechanism relies on nonlinear interaction terms becoming dominant close to a compact source. However, theories displaying this mechanism are generally understood to be low-energy theories: it is unclear that operators emerging from UV completion do not interfere with terms inducing Vainshtein screening. In this work, we find a set of interacting massive Galileon theories that exhibit Vainshtein screening; examining potential UV completions of these theories, we determine that the screening does not survive the extension. We find that neglecting operators when integrating out a heavy field is non-trivial, and either care must be taken to ensure that omitted terms are small for the whole domain, or one is forced to work solely with the UV theory. We also comment on massive deformations of the familiar Wess-Zumino Galileons.

Automated summary

The Vainshtein screening mechanism relies on nonlinear interaction terms dominating close to a compact source, but it is uncertain how UV completions of low-energy theories may interfere with these terms. This study explores interacting massive Galileon theories that exhibit Vainshtein screening, but finds that the screening does not survive potential UV completions. It highlights the complexity of neglecting operators when integrating out heavy fields, emphasizing the need for careful consideration or restriction to working solely with the UV theory.