Extending previous work in Randall-Sundrum type models, we construct low-energy effective actions for braneworlds with a bulk scalar field, with special attention to the case of BPS branes. Holding the branes at fixed coordinate position with a general ansatz for the bulk metric, and imposing the Einstein frame as a gauge condition, we obtain a scalar-tensor theory with only one scalar degree of freedom related to the proper brane separation. The formalism is applicable even when there is direct coupling of the bulk scalar and brane matter, as in the Horava-Witten model. We further show that the usual moduli space approximation actually describes a non-BPS three-brane system.

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