Considering the Poincaré group ISO(d−1,1) in any dimension d>3, we characterise the coadjoint orbits that are associated with massive and massless particles of discrete spin. We also comment on how our analysis extends to the case of... more
Considering the Poincaré group ISO(d−1,1) in any dimension d>3, we characterise the coadjoint orbits that are associated with massive and massless particles of discrete spin. We also comment on how our analysis extends to the case of continuous spin.
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Since the pioneering works of Newton (1643–1727), mechanics has been constantly reinventing itself: reformulated in particular by Lagrange (1736–1813) then Hamilton (1805–1865), it now offers powerful conceptual and mathematical tools for... more
Since the pioneering works of Newton (1643–1727), mechanics has been constantly reinventing itself: reformulated in particular by Lagrange (1736–1813) then Hamilton (1805–1865), it now offers powerful conceptual and mathematical tools for the exploration of dynamical systems, essentially via the action-angle variables formulation and more generally through the theory of canonical transformations. We propose to the (graduate) reader an overview of these different formulations through the well-known example of Foucault’s pendulum, a device created by Foucault (1819–1868) and first installed in the Panthéon (Paris, France) in 1851 to display the Earth’s rotation. The apparent simplicity of Foucault’s pendulum is indeed an open door to the most contemporary ramifications of classical mechanics. We stress that adopting the formalism of action-angle variables is not necessary to understand the dynamics of Foucault’s pendulum. The latter is simply taken as well-known and simple dynamical s...
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Cohomological techniques within the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) extension of the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) formalism have proved invaluable for classifying consistent deformations of gauge theories. In this work we investigate the... more
Cohomological techniques within the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) extension of the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) formalism have proved invaluable for classifying consistent deformations of gauge theories. In this work we investigate the application of this idea to massive field theories in the Stueckelberg formulation. Starting with a collection of free massive vectors, we show that the cohomological method reproduces the cubic and quartic vertices of massive Yang-Mills theory. In the same way, taking a Fierz-Pauli graviton on a maximally symmetric space as the starting point, we are able to recover the consistent cubic vertices of nonlinear massive gravity. The formalism further sheds light on the characterization of Stueckelberg gauge theories, by demonstrating for instance that the gauge algebra of such models is necessarily Abelian and that they admit a Born-Infeld-like formulation in which the action is simply a combination of the gauge-invariant structures of the free theory.
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We present a list of all inequivalent bosonic covariant free particle wave equations in a flat spacetime of arbitrary dimension. The wave functions are assumed to have a finite number of components. We relate these wave equations to... more
We present a list of all inequivalent bosonic covariant free particle wave equations in a flat spacetime of arbitrary dimension. The wave functions are assumed to have a finite number of components. We relate these wave equations to equivalent versions obtained following other approaches.
We present some generalities of unfolded on-shell dynamics that are useful in analyzing the BMV conjecture for mixed-symmetry fields in constantly curved backgrounds. In particular we discuss the unfolded notion of local degrees of... more
We present some generalities of unfolded on-shell dynamics that are useful in analyzing the BMV conjecture for mixed-symmetry fields in constantly curved backgrounds. In particular we discuss the unfolded notion of local degrees of freedom in theories with and without gravity and with and without massive deformation parameters, using the language of Weyl zero-form modules and their duals. 1 Work supported by a “Progetto Italia ” fellowship. F.R.S.-FNRS associate researcher on leave from the Service de Mécanique et Gravitation, Université de Mons-Hainaut, Belgium.
An extensive group-theoretical treatment of linear relativistic wave equations on Minkowski spacetime of arbitrary dimension D>2 is presented in these lecture notes. To start with, the one-to-one correspondence between linear... more
An extensive group-theoretical treatment of linear relativistic wave equations on Minkowski spacetime of arbitrary dimension D>2 is presented in these lecture notes. To start with, the one-to-one correspondence between linear relativistic wave equations and unitary representations of the isometry group is reviewed. In turn, the method of induced representations reduces the problem of classifying the representations of the Poincare group ISO(D-1,1) to the classication of the representations of the stability subgroups only. Therefore, an exhaustive treatment of the two most important classes of unitary irreducible representations, corresponding to massive and massless particles (the latter class decomposing in turn into the ``helicity'' and the "infinite-spin" representations) may be performed via the well-known representation theory of the orthogonal groups O(n) (with D-4<n<D). Finally, covariant wave equations are given for each unitary irreducible represe...
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Following the general formalism presented in 0812.3615 — referred to as Paper I — we derive the unfolded equations of motion for tensor fields of arbitrary shape and mass in constantly curved backgrounds by radial reduction of Skvortsov’s... more
Following the general formalism presented in 0812.3615 — referred to as Paper I — we derive the unfolded equations of motion for tensor fields of arbitrary shape and mass in constantly curved backgrounds by radial reduction of Skvortsov’s equations in one higher dimension. The complete unfolded system is embedded into a single master field, valued in a tensorial Schur module realized equivalently via either bosonic (symmetric basis) or fermionic (anti-symmetric basis) vector oscillators. At critical masses the reduced Weyl zero-form modules become indecomposable. We explicitly project the latter onto the submodules carrying Metsaev’s massless representations. The remainder of the reduced system contains a set of Stückelberg fields and dynamical potentials that leads to a smooth flat limit in accordance with the Brink–Metsaev–Vasiliev (BMV) conjecture. In the unitary massless cases in AdS, we identify the Alkalaev–Shaynkman–Vasiliev frame-like potentials and explicitly disentangle th...
We propose an extension of Vasiliev's supertrace operation for the enveloping algebra of Wigner's deformed oscillator algebra to the fractional spin algebra given in arXiv:1312.5700. The resulting three-dimensional Chern-Simons... more
We propose an extension of Vasiliev's supertrace operation for the enveloping algebra of Wigner's deformed oscillator algebra to the fractional spin algebra given in arXiv:1312.5700. The resulting three-dimensional Chern-Simons theory unifies the Blencowe-Vasiliev higher spin gravity with fractional spin fields and internal gauge potentials. For integer or half-integer fractional spins, infinite dimensional ideals arise and decouple, leaving finite dimensional gauge algebras gl(2l+1) or gl(l|l+1) and various real forms thereof. We derive the relation between gravitational and internal gauge couplings.