The de Sitter relativistic top theory

Abstract

We discuss the relativistic top theory from the point of view of the de Sitter (or anti–de Sitter) group. Our treatment rests on the Hanson–Regge spherical relativistic top Lagrangian formulation. We propose an alternative method for studying spinning objects via Kaluza–Klein theory. In particular, we derive the relativistic top equations of motion starting with the geodesic equation for a point particle in 4+N dimensions. We compare our approach with Fukuyama’s formulation of spinning objects, which is also based on Kaluza–Klein theory. We also report a generalization of our approach to a 4+N+D dimensional theory.