Massless Spin Research Articles

Cubic interactions for massless and partially massless spin-1 and spin-2 fields

We perform a complete classification of the consistent two-derivative cubic couplings for a system containing an arbitrary number of massless spin-1, massless spin-2, and partially massless (PM) spin-2 fields in D-dimensional (anti-)de Sitter space. In addition to previously known results, we find a unique candidate mixing between spin-1 and PM spin-2 fields. We derive all the quadratic constraints on the structure constants of the theory, allowing for relative “wrong-sign” kinetic terms for any of the fields. In the particular case when the kinetic terms in each sector have no relative signs, we find that the unique consistent non-trivial theory is given by multiple independent copies of conformal gravity coupled to a Yang-Mills sector in D = 4. Our results strengthen the well-known no-go theorems on the absence of mutual interactions for massless and PM spin-2 fields.

On massive higher spin supermultiplets in d = 4

In this work we discuss the cubic interactions for massless spin 3/2 gravitino with massive higher spin supermultiplets using three superblocks (2, 3/2), (5/2, 2) and (3, 5/2) as the first non-trivial examples. We use gauge invariant formalism for the massive higher spin fields and, as is common in such cases, we face an ambiguity related with the possible field redefinitions due to the presence of Stueckelberg fields. From one hand, we show how this ambiguity can be used as one more way to classify possible cubic vertices. We also note that all these field redefinitions do not change the part of the Lagrangian which appears in the unitary gauge (where all Stueckelberg fields are set to zero) so we still have some important independent results. From the other hand, we show how using the so-called unfolded formalism one can fix these ambiguities and obtain consistent deformations for all massive field gauge invariant curvatures which is the most important step in the Fradkin-Vasiliev formalism. Unfortunately, this works for the massive fields only so the way to construct deformations for the massless field curvatures is still has to be found.

Atomic electron transitions of hydrogen-like atoms induced by gravitational waves

Abstract As a realistic model of a quantum system of matter, this paper investigates the gravitational-wave effects on a hydrogen-like atom using a first-principles approach. By formulating the tetrad formalism of linearized gravity, we naturally incorporate gravitational-wave effects through minimal coupling in the covariant Dirac equation. The atomic electron transition rates induced by the gravitational wave are calculated using first-order perturbation theory, revealing a distinctive selection rule along with Fermi's golden rule. This rule can be elegantly understood in terms of gravitons as massless spin-2 particles. Our results suggest the existence of gravitons and may lead to a novel approach to probing ultra-high-frequency gravitational waves (UHF-GWs).

Bounds on photon scattering

We study 2-to-2 scattering amplitudes of massless spin one particles in d = 4 space-time dimensions, like real world photons. We define a set of non-perturbative observables (Wilson coefficients) which describe these amplitudes at low energies. We use full non-linear unitarity to construct various novel numerical bounds on these observables. For completeness, we also rederive some bounds using positivity only. We discover and explain why some of these Wilson coefficients cannot be bounded.

[formula omitted] higher-spin supercurrents

We have constructed conserved N=2 higher-spin supercurrents for an arbitrary integer spin through the unconstrained superfield formulation of 4D,N=2 massless higher-spin theories in the harmonic superspace. The obtained supercurrents are gauge-invariant and determine consistent cubic interactions in the gauge superfield × supercurrent form for massless spin s1 and two massless spin s2N=2 supermultiplets. Such interactions and N=2 supercurrents exist only for s1≥2s2. These supercurrents are the N=2 supersymmetric extension of Berends-Burgers-van Dam higher-spin currents and generalize the linearized Bel-Robinson tensor. The relevant N=2 supercurrents can be considered as the descendants of the N=2 principle supercurrent, which has a simple universal structure. An important feature of our outcomes is that, ultimately, all N=2 supercurrents are built from the N=2 superfield strengths, which are constructed from the unconstrained analytical higher-spin prepotentials.

Unconventional conformal invariance of maximal depth partially massless fields on dS4 and its relation to complex partially massless SUSY

Deser and Waldron have shown that maximal depth partially massless theories of higher (integer) spin on four-dimensional de Sitter spacetime (dS4) possess infinitesimal symmetries generated by the conformal Killing vectors of dS4. However, it was later shown by Barnich, Bekaert, and Grigoriev that these theories are not invariant under the conformal algebra so(2, 4). To get some insight into these seemingly contradicting results we write down the full set of infinitesimal transformations of the fields generated by the fifteen conformal Killing vectors of dS4. In particular, although the infinitesimal transformations generated by the ten dS Killing vectors are well-known (these correspond to the conventional Lie derivatives), the transformations generated by the five non-Killing conformal Killing vectors were absent from the literature, and we show that they have an ‘unconventional’ form. In the spin-2 case (partially massless graviton), we show that the field equations and the action are invariant under the unconventional conformal transformations. For spin s > 2, the invariance is demonstrated only at the level of the field equations. For all spins s ≥ 2, we reproduce the result that the symmetry algebra does not close on the conformal algebra, so(2, 4). This is due to the appearance of new higher-derivative symmetry transformations in the commutator of two unconventional conformal transformations. Our results concerning the closure of the full symmetry algebra are inconclusive. Then we shift focus to the question of supersymmetry (SUSY) on dS4 and our objective is twofold. First, we uncover a non-interacting supermultiplet that consists of a complex partially massless spin-2 field and a complex spin-3/2 field on dS4. Second, we showcase the appearance of the unconventional conformal symmetries in the commutator of two SUSY transformations. Thus, this commutator closes on an algebra that is neither so(1, 4) nor so(2, 4), while its full structure is an open question. More open questions arising from our findings are also discussed.

Scale and conformal invariance on (A)dS spacetimes

We examine the question of scale versus conformal invariance on maximally symmetric curved backgrounds and study general two-derivative conformally invariant free theories of vectors and tensors. For spacetime dimension D>4, these conformal theories can be diagonalized into standard massive fields in which unbroken conformal symmetry nontrivially mixes components of different spins. In D=4, the tensor case becomes a conformal theory mixing a partially massless spin-2 field with a massless spin-1 field. For massless linearized gravity in D=4, we confirm through direct calculation that correlation functions of gauge-invariant operators take the conformally invariant form, despite the absence of standard conformal symmetry at the level of the action. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Spin-(s, j) projectors and gauge-invariant spin-s actions in maximally symmetric backgrounds

Given a maximally symmetric d-dimensional background with isometry algebra g\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathfrak{g} $$\\end{document}, a symmetric and traceless rank-s field ϕa(s) satisfying the massive Klein-Gordon equation furnishes a collection of massive g\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathfrak{g} $$\\end{document}-representations with spins j ∈ {0, 1, · · · , s}. In this paper we construct the spin-(s, j) projectors, which are operators that isolate the part of ϕa(s) that furnishes the representation from this collection carrying spin j. In the case of an (anti-)de Sitter ((A)dSd) background, we find that the poles of the projectors encode information about (partially-)massless representations, in agreement with observations made earlier in d = 3, 4. We then use these projectors to facilitate a systematic derivation of two-derivative actions with a propagating massless spin-s mode. In addition to reproducing the massless spin-s Fronsdal action, this analysis generates new actions possessing higher-depth gauge symmetry. In (A)dSd we also derive the action for a partially-massless spin-s depth-t field with 1 ≤ t ≤ s. The latter utilises the minimum number of auxiliary fields, and corresponds to the action originally proposed by Zinoviev after gauging away all Stückelberg fields. Some higher-derivative actions are also presented, and in d = 3 are used to construct (i) generalised higher-spin Cotton tensors in (A)dS3; and (ii) topologically-massive actions with higher-depth gauge symmetry. Finally, in four-dimensional N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 1 Minkowski superspace, we provide closed-form expressions for the analogous superprojectors.

CFT reconstruction of local bulk operators in half-Minkowski space

We construct a holographic map that reconstructs massless fields (scalars, Maxwell field, and Fierz-Pauli field) in half-Minkowski spacetime in d+1 dimensions terms of smeared primary operators in a large-N factorizable CFT in Rd−1,1. This map is based on a Weyl (rescaling) transformation from the Poincaré wedge of AdS to the Minkowski half-space and on the Hamilton-Kabat-Lifschytz-Lowe smearing function, which reconstructs local bulk operators in the Poincaré AdS in terms of smeared operators on the conformal boundary of the Poincaré wedge. The massless scalar field is reconstructed up to the level of two-point functions, while the Maxwell field and massless spin-2 fields are reconstructed at the level of the one-point function. We also discuss potential ways the map can be generalized to higher dimensions, and to the full Minkowski space. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Constraining Spacetime Dimensions in Quantum Gravity by Scale Invariance and Electric–Magnetic Duality

Abstract We consider a low-energy effective theory of p-branequaes in a D-dimensional spacetime, and impose two conditions: (1) the theory is scale-invariant, and (2) the electric–magnetic dual $(D-p-4)$-branes exist and they obey the same type of interactions to the p-branes. (We also assume other natural conditions such as Lorentz invariance but not string theory, supersymmetry, supergravity, and so on.) We then ask what values of p and D are consistent with these conditions. Using simple dimensional analysis, we find that only two solutions are possible: $(p,D)=(2,11)$ and $(p,D)=(2n-1,4n+2)$, ($n=1,2,3,\cdots$). The first solution corresponds to M-theory, and the second solutions at $n=1$ and $n=2$ correspond to self-dual strings in little string theory and D3-branes in type IIB superstring theory, respectively, while the second solutions for $n \ge 3$ are unknown but would be higher spin theories. Thus, quantum gravity (massless spin two theory) satisfying our two conditions would only be superstring theories, and the conditions would be strong enough to characterize superstring theories in quantum gravity.

Massless spin 2 field in 50-component approach: exact solutions with cylindrical symmetry, eliminating the guage degrees of freedom

We begin with some known results of the 50-component theory for a spin-2 field described in cylindrical coordinates. This theory is based on the use of a 2nd-rank symmetric tensor and a 3rd-rank tensor symmetric in two indices. In the massive case, this theory describes a spin-2 particle with an anomalous magnetic moment. According to the Fedorov – Gronskiy method, which is based on projective operators, all 50 functions involved in the description of the spin-2 field for the case of the free particle can be expressed in terms of only 7 different functions constructed from Bessel functions. This leads to a homogeneous system of linear algebraic equations for 50 numerical parameters. We have found 6 independent solutions to these equations. Additionally, we have obtained explicit expressions for 4 guage solutions defined in accordance with the Pauli – Fierz approach. These solutions are exact and correspond to non-physical states that do not affect observable quantities, such as the energy-momentum tensor. Finally, we have constructed two classes of solutions that represent physically observable states.

Anisotropic Einstein Universes with a Global Magnetic Field and Sasakian Quasi-Killing Spinors

Abstract We consider an Einstein–Dirac–Maxwell system with two charged massless spinors coupled with an electromagnetic field, and construct a family of exact solutions to the system. The solution spacetime is an anisotropic generalization of the static Einstein universe which has a global cosmic magnetic field generated by the current of the spinors. The magnetic field is a force-free field that has played an important role in the study of cosmic magnetic fields. Our exact solution is regarded as a toy model which describes global cosmic magnetic phenomena in the early universe. The spinors are induced from Sasakian quasi-Killing spinors, and the total Dirac current flows along fibers of the Hopf-fibration. The magnetic field is a contact magnetic field.

Gravitational wave analogs in spin nematics and cold atoms

Large-scale gravitational phenomena are famously difficult to observe, making parallels in condensed matter physics a valuable resource. Here we show how spin nematic phases, found in magnets and cold atoms, can provide an analog to linearized gravity. In particular, we show that the Goldstone modes of these systems are massless spin-2 bosons, in one-to-one correspondence with quantized gravitational waves in flat spacetime. We identify a spin-1 model supporting these excitations and, using simulation, outline a procedure for their observation in a 23Na spinor condensate. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Massless spin-2 field solutions with spherical symmetry: Eliminating gauge degrees of freedom

We examine the basic matrix equation for a spin-2 field in spherical coordinates and a tetrad of Minkowski spacetime. The technique of Wigner D-functions is used to separate the variables. The operators of energy, the square and the third projection of the total angular momentum, and the space reflection operators are then diagonalized on the solutions. The separation of the variables is done, the problem reduces to 11 radial second-order differential equations for 11 variables related to the scalar and symmetric tensors. We then consider the case of a massless field. The four gauge solutions for the massless spin-2 field have been found in explicit form. These gauge solutions do not contribute to physically observable quantities such as the energy–momentum tensor. They are derived according to Pauli–Fierz theory from four independent spherical solutions for a spin-1 massless particle. We have also constructed two types of solutions, related to opposite parities, which are not the gauge solutions. These solutions describe physically observable states with spherical symmetry for the spin-2 massless field.

ALPs, the on-shell way

We study how the coupling between axion-like particles (ALPs) and matter can be obtained at the level of on-shell scattering amplitudes. We identify three conditions that allow us to compute amplitudes that correspond to shift-symmetric Lagrangians, at the level of operators with dimension 5 or higher, and we discuss how they relate and extend the Adler’s zero condition. These conditions are necessary to reduce the number of coefficients consistent with the little-group scaling to the one expected from the Lagrangian approach. We also show how our formalism easily explains that the dimension-5 interaction involving one ALP and two massless spin-1 bosons receive corrections from higher order operators only when the ALP has a non-vanishing mass. As a direct application of our results, we perform a phenomenological study of the inelastic scattering ℓ+ℓ− → ϕh (with ℓ± two charged leptons, ϕ the ALP and h the Higgs boson) for which, as a result of the structure of the 3-point and 4-point amplitudes, dimension-7 operators can dominate over the dimension-5 ones well before the energy reaches the cutoff of the theory.

Exact massless spinor quasibound states of Schwarzschild black hole

In this work, we investigate the behavior of massless spin 12 field by working out the Dirac equation in a curved static spherically symmetric Schwarzschild space-time. Detailed derivation of novel exact massive and massless scalar quasibound state in Schwarzschild black hole background is presented in this work. After decoupling the Dirac equation, we successfully solve both of the angular and radial parts, respectively in terms of spin weighted Spherical Harmonics and Confluent Heun functions. With the exact radial wave solution in hand, applying its polynomial condition leads to the discovery of the quantized energy levels expression. We found that the massless spinor field around the Schwarzschild black hole has complex valued energy levels, in contrast to the purely imaginary for a massless boson around the same black hole. In the last section, the Hawking radiation distribution function is derived via Damour-Ruffini method and the Hawking temperature is obtained.

New conformal-like symmetry of strictly massless fermions in four-dimensional de Sitter space

We present new infinitesimal ‘conformal-like’ symmetries for the field equations of strictly massless spin-s ≥ 3/2 totally symmetric tensor-spinors (i.e. gauge potentials) on 4-dimensional de Sitter spacetime (dS4). The corresponding symmetry transformations are generated by the five closed conformal Killing vectors of dS4, but they are not conventional conformal transformations. We show that the algebra generated by the ten de Sitter (dS) symmetries and the five conformal-like symmetries closes on the conformal-like algebra so(2, 4) up to gauge transformations of the gauge potentials. The transformations of the gauge-invariant field strength tensor-spinors under the conformal-like symmetries are given by the product of γ5 times a usual infinitesimal conformal transformation of the field strengths. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the two sets of physical mode solutions, corresponding to the two helicities ±s of the strictly massless theories, form a direct sum of Unitary Irreducible Representations (UIRs) of the conformal-like algebra. We also fill a gap in the literature by explaining how these physical modes form a direct sum of Discrete Series UIRs of the dS algebra so(1, 4).

Scalar gravitational waves can be generated even without direct coupling between Dark Energy and ordinary matter

We point out, the scalar sector of gravitational perturbations may be excited by an isolated astrophysical system immersed in a universe whose accelerated expansion is not due to the cosmological constant, but due to extra field degrees of freedom. This is true even if the source of gravitational radiation did not couple directly to these additional fields. We illustrate this by considering a universe driven by a single canonical scalar field. By working within the gauge-invariant formalism, we solve for the electric components of the linearised Weyl tensor to demonstrate that both the gravitational massless spin-2 (transverse-traceless) tensor and the (Bardeen) scalar modes are generated by a generic astrophysical source. For concreteness, the Dark Energy scalar field is either released from rest, or allowed to asymptote toward the minimum in a certain class of potentials; and we compute the traceless tidal forces induced by gravitational radiation from a hypothetical compact binary system residing in such a universe. Though their magnitudes are very small compared to the tensors', spin zero gravitational waves in such a canonical scalar driven universe are directly sensitive to both the Dark Energy equation of state and the eccentricity of the binary's orbit.

(Non-)unitarity of strictly and partially massless fermions on de Sitter space II: an explanation based on the group-theoretic properties of the spin-3/2 and spin-5/2 eigenmodes

Abstract In our previous article (Letsios 2023 J. High Energy Phys. JHEP05(2023)015), we showed that the strictly massless spin-3/2 field, as well as the strictly and partially massless spin-5/2 fields, on N-dimensional ( N ⩾ 3 ) de Sitter (dS) spacetime (dS N ) are non-unitary unless N = 4. The (non-)unitarity was demonstrated by simply observing that there is a (mis-)match between the representation-theoretic labels that correspond to the unitary irreducible representations (UIR’s) of the dS algebra spin ( N , 1 ) and the ones corresponding to the space of eigenmodes of the field theories. In this paper, we provide a technical representation-theoretic explanation for this fact by studying the (non-)existence of positive-definite, dS invariant scalar products for the spin-3/2 and spin-5/2 strictly/partially massless eigenmodes on dS N ( N ⩾ 3 ). Our basic tool is the examination of the action of spin ( N , 1 ) generators on the space of eigenmodes, leading to the following findings. For odd N, any dS invariant scalar product is identically zero. For even N > 4, any dS invariant scalar product must be indefinite. This gives rise to positive-norm and negative-norm eigenmodes that mix with each other under spin ( N , 1 ) boosts. In the N = 4 case, the positive-norm sector decouples from the negative-norm sector and each sector separately forms a UIR of spin(4, 1). Our analysis makes extensive use of the analytic continuation of tensor-spinor spherical harmonics on the N-sphere (S N ) to dS N and also introduces representation-theoretic techniques that are absent from the mathematical physics literature on half-odd-integer-spin fields on dS N .

The fermionic greybody factor and quasinormal modes of hairy black holes, as well as Hawking radiation’s power spectrum and sparsity

A hairy black hole (HBH) emerges due to matter surrounding the Schwarzschild metric when using the Extended Gravitational Decoupling (GD) approach. The fermionic greybody factors (GFs) and quasinormal modes (QNMs) as well as Hawking spectra and sparsity of HBH solutions are investigated. We consider massive and massless spin-1/2 fermions, along with massless spin-3/2 fermions. The equations of the effective potential for fermions with different spins are derived in HBH spacetime. Then, the rigorous bound method is used to calculate the fermionic spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 GFs. With the time domain integration method at our disposal, we illustrate the impact of additional parameters on the ringdown waveform of the massless fermionic spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 fields and, in turn, on their quasinormal modes. We then delve into investigating the Hawking spectra and sparsity of the radiation emitted by an HBH. Hairy parameters significantly affect the sparsity of Hawking radiation as well. We observe that the total power emitted by the BH increases both with α\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\alpha $$\\end{document} and Q but decreases with l0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$l_{0}$$\\end{document}. Our study conclusively shows the significant impact of the additional parameters on important astrophysical phenomena such as quasinormal modes, Hawking spectra, and sparsity.