Dario Francia

On the geometry of higher spin gauge fields

We review a recent construction of the free-field equations for totally symmetric tensors and tensor-spinors that exhibits the corresponding linearized geometry. These equations are not local for all spins >2, involve unconstrained fields and gauge parameters, rest on the curvatures introduced long ago by de Wit and Freedman and reduce to the local (Fang–)Fronsdal form upon partial gauge fixing. We also describe how the higher-spin geometry is realized in free string field theory, and how the gauge fixing to the light cone can be effected.

Minimal local Lagrangians for higher-spin geometry

Abstract The Fronsdal Lagrangians for free totally symmetric rank-s tensors φ μ 1 … μ s rest on suitable trace constraints for their gauge parameters and gauge fields. Only when these constraints are removed, however, the resulting equations reflect the expected free higher-spin geometry. We show that geometric equations, in both their local and non-local forms, can be simply recovered from local Lagrangians with only two additional fields, a rank- ( s − 3 ) compensator α μ 1 … μ s − 3 and a rank- ( s − 4 ) Lagrange multiplier β μ 1 … μ s − 4 . In a similar fashion, we show that geometric equations for unconstrained rank-n totally symmetric spinor-tensors ψ μ 1 … μ n can be simply recovered from local Lagrangians with only two additional spinor-tensors, a rank- ( n − 2 ) compensator ξ μ 1 … μ n − 2 and a rank- ( n − 3 ) Lagrange multiplier λ μ 1 … μ n − 3 .

Unconstrained higher spins of mixed symmetry I. Bose fields

This is the first of two papers devoted to the local “metric-like” unconstrained Lagrangians and field equations for higher-spin gauge fields of mixed symmetry in flat space. Here we complete the previous constrained formulation of Labastida for Bose fields. We thus recover his Lagrangians via the Bianchi identities, before extending them to their “minimal” unconstrained form with higher derivatives of the compensator fields and to yet another, non-minimal, form with only two-derivative terms. We also identify classes of these systems that are invariant under Weyl-like symmetries.

Maxwell-like Lagrangians for higher spins

A bstractWe show how implementing invariance under divergence-free gauge transformations leads to a remarkably simple Lagrangian description of massless bosons of any spin. Our construction covers both flat and (A)dS backgrounds and extends to tensors of arbitrary mixed-symmetry type. Irreducible and traceless fields produce single-particle actions, while whenever trace constraints can be dispensed with the resulting Lagrangians display the same reducible, multi-particle spectra as those emerging from the tensionless limit of free open-string field theory. For all explored options the corresponding kinetic operators take essentially the same form as in the spin-one, Maxwell case.

Geometric Lagrangians for massive higher-spin fields

Lagrangians for massive, unconstrained, higher-spin bosons and fermions are proposed. The idea is to modify the geometric, gauge invariant Lagrangians describing the corresponding massless theories by the addition of suitable quadratic polynomials. These polynomials provide generalisations of the Fierz-Pauli mass term containing all possible traces of the basic field. No auxiliary fields are needed.

String theory triplets and higher-spin curvatures

Abstract Unconstrained local Lagrangians for higher-spin gauge theories are bound to involve auxiliary fields, whose integration in the partition function generates geometric, effective actions expressed in terms of curvatures. When applied to the triplets, emerging from the tensionless limit of open string field theory, the same procedure yields interesting alternative forms of geometric Lagrangians, expressible for both bosons and fermions as squares of field-strengths. This shows that higher-spin curvatures might play a role in the dynamics, regardless of whether the Fronsdal–Labastida constraints are assumed or forgone.

Geometric massive higher spins and current exchanges

Generalised Fierz-Pauli mass terms allow to describe massive higher-spin fields on flat background by means of simple quadratic deformations of the corresponding geometric, massless Lagrangians. In this framework there is no need for auxiliary fields. We briefly review the construction in the bosonic case and study the interaction of these massive fields with external sources, computing the corresponding propagators. In the same fashion as for the massive graviton, but differently from theories where auxiliary fields are present, the structure of the current exchange is completely determined by the form of the mass term itself.

On higher-spin supertranslations and superrotations

A bstractWe study the large gauge transformations of massless higher-spin fields in four-dimensional Minkowski space. Upon imposing suitable fall-off conditions, providing higher-spin counterparts of the Bondi gauge, we observe the existence of an infinite-dimensional asymptotic symmetry algebra. The corresponding Ward identities can be held responsible for Weinberg’s factorisation theorem for amplitudes involving soft particles of spin greater than two.

Cubic interactions of Maxwell-like higher spins

A bstractWe study the cubic vertices for Maxwell-like higher-spins in flat and (A)dS background spaces of any dimension. Reducibility of their free spectra implies that a single cubic vertex involving any three fields subsumes a number of couplings among different particles of various spins. The resulting vertices do not involve traces of the fields and in this sense are simpler than their Fronsdal counterparts. We propose an extension of both the free theory and of its cubic deformation to a more general class of partially reducible systems, that one can obtain from the original theory upon imposing trace constraints of various orders. The key to our results is a version of the Noether procedure allowing to systematically account for the deformations of the transversality conditions to be imposed on the gauge parameters at the free level.

On the gauge symmetries of Maxwell-like higher-spin Lagrangians

Abstract In their simplest form, metric-like Lagrangians for higher-spin massless fields are usually assumed to display constrained gauge symmetries, unless auxiliary fields are introduced or locality is foregone. Specifically, in its standard incarnation, gauge invariance of Maxwell-like Lagrangians relies on parameters with vanishing divergence. We find an alternative form of the corresponding local symmetry involving unconstrained gauge parameters of mixed-symmetry type, described by rectangular two-row Young diagrams and entering high-derivative gauge transformations. The resulting gauge algebra appears to be reducible and we display the full pattern of gauge-for-gauge parameters, testing its correctness via the corresponding counting of degrees of freedom. The algebraic techniques applied in this work also allow us to elucidate some general properties of linear gauge systems. In particular, we establish the general fact that any linear local field theory always admits unconstrained, local, and finitely reducible parametrization of the gauge symmetry. Incidentally, this shows that massless higher spins admit a local unconstrained formulation with no need for auxiliary fields.