In the context of the Higher-Order Maxwell-Einstein-Scalar (HOMES) theories, which are invariant under spacetime diffeomorphisms and $U(1)$ gauge symmetry, we study two broad subclasses: the first is up to linear in $R_{ \mu\nu\alpha\beta}$, $\nabla_\mu\nabla_\nu\phi$, $\nabla_\rho{ F}_{ \mu\nu}$ and up to quadratic in the vector field strength tensor $F_{ \mu\nu}$; the second is up to linear in $\nabla_\mu\nabla_\nu\phi$, contains no second derivatives of vector field and metric, but allows for arbitrary functions/powers of $F_{ \mu\nu}$. Under these assumptions, we systematically derive the most general form of the action that leads to second-order (or lower) equations of motion. We prove that, among 41 possible terms in the first subclass, only four independent higher-derivative terms are allowed: the kinetic gravity braiding term $G_3(\phi,X)\Box\phi$ in the scalar sector with $X = -\nabla_\mu\phi \nabla^\mu\phi / 2$; the Horndeski non-minimal coupling term $w_0(\phi)R_{ \beta \delta \alpha \gamma}\tilde{ F}^{ \alpha \beta } \tilde{ F}^{ \gamma \delta }$ in the vector field sector, where $\tilde{ F}^{ \mu\nu}$ is the Hodge dual of $F_{ \mu\nu}$; and two interaction terms between the scalar and vector field sectors: $[w_1(\phi,X) g_{ \rho\sigma} + w_2(\phi,X) \nabla_{ \rho}\phi \nabla_{ \sigma}\phi] \nabla_\beta\nabla_\alpha\phi \, \tilde{ F}^{ \alpha \rho } \tilde{ F}^{ \beta\sigma}$. For the second subclass, which admits 11 possible terms, three of these four, excluding the Horndeski non-minimal coupling term proportional to $w_0(\phi)$, are allowed. These independent terms serve as the building blocks of each subclass of HOMES. Remarkably, there is no higher-derivative parity-violating term in either subclass. Finally, we propose a new generalization of higher-derivative interaction terms for the case of a charged complex scalar field.
Categories: hep-th gr-qc