Introduction

This book presents the most common types of instabilities arising in classical field theories, namely tachyonic, Laplacian, ghost-like or strong coupling instabilities, also commenting on their quantum implications. The authors provide a detailed account on the Ostrogradski theorem and its implications for higher-order time-derivative field theories. After presenting the general concepts and formalism, they dive into its applications to particular field theories, using mainly modified gravity theories as examples. The book is intended for advanced undergraduate/graduate students, but can also be useful for researchers, for having a unified exposition of general results on instabilities in field theory and examples of their applications.