A short representation of the six-dimensional (2, 0) algebra

We construct a BPS-saturated representation of the six-dimensional (2, 0) algebra with a certain non-zero value of the `central' charge. This representation is naturally carried by strings with internal degrees of freedom rather than by point particles. Upon compactification on a circle, it reduces to a massive vector multiplet in five dimensions. We also construct quantum fields out of the creation and annihilation operators of the states of this representation, and show how they give rise to a conserved two-form current that can be coupled to a tensor multiplet. We hope that these results may be relevant for understanding the degrees of freedom associated with strings in interacting (2, 0) theories.