UNCONSTRAINED HIGHER SPINS IN FOUR DIMENSIONS

Abstract

The relativistic symmetric tensor fields are, in four dimensions, the right candidates to describe Higher Spin Fields. Their highest spin content is isolated with the aid of covariant conditions, discussed within a group theory framework, in which auxiliary fields remove the lower intrinsic angular momenta sectors. These conditions are embedded within a Lagrangian Quantum Field theory which describes an Higher Spin Field interacting with a Classical background. The model is invariant under a (B.R.S.) symmetric unconstrained tensor extension of the reparametrization symmetry, which include the Fang–Fronsdal algebra in a well defined limit. However, the symmetry setting reveals that the compensator field, which restore the Fang–Fronsdal symmetry of the free equations of motion, is in the existing in the framework and has a relevant geometrical meaning. The Ward identities coming from this symmetry are discussed. Our constraints give the result that the space of the invariant observables is restricted to the ones constructed with the Highest Spin Field content. The quantum extension of the symmetry reveals that no new anomaly is present. The role of the compensator field in this result is fundamental.