Jordan frame beyond scalar-tensor theories

We study the Jordan frame formulation of generalizations of scalar-tensor theories conceived by replacing the scalar with other fields such as vectors. The generic theory in this family contains higher-order time derivative terms in the Jordan frame action which is indicative of ill posedness. However, we show that the equations of motion can always be reduced to a second-order-in-time form as long as the original Einstein frame formulation is well posed. The inverse transformation from the Jordan frame back to the Einstein frame is not possible for all field values in all theories, but we obtain a fully invertible transformation for vector-tensor theories by a redefinition of the vector field. Our main motivation is a better understanding of spontaneous scalarization and its generalizations; however our conclusions are applicable to a wide class of theories. The Jordan frame has been traditionally used for certain calculations in scalar-tensor theories of gravitation, and our results will help researchers generalize these results, enabling comparison to observational data.