Higher spins from tensorial charges and OSp(N|2n) symmetry

Abstract

It is shown that the quantization of a superparticle propagating in an N=1, D=4 superspace extended with tensorial coordinates results in an infinite tower of massless spin states satisfying the Vasiliev unfolded equations for free higher spin fields in flat and AdS_4 N=1 superspace. The tensorial extension of the AdS_4 superspace is proved to be a supergroup manifold OSp(1|4). The model is manifestly invariant under an OSp(N|8) (N=1,2) superconformal symmetry. As a byproduct, we find that the Cartan forms of arbitrary Sp(2n) and OSp(1|2n) groups are GL(2n) flat, i.e. they are equivalent to flat Cartan forms up to a GL(2n) rotation. This property is crucial for carrying out the quantization of the particle model on OSp(1|4) and getting the higher spin field dynamics in super AdS_4, which can be performed in a way analogous to the flat case.