Higher-Spin Gauge Theories and Bulk Locality
Abstract
We present a no-go result on consistent Noether interactions among higher-spin gauge fields on anti-de Sitter space-times. We show that there is a non-local obstruction at the classical level to consistent interacting field theory descriptions of massless higher-spin particles that are described in the free limit by the free Fronsdal action, under the assumption that such theories arise from the gauging of a global higher-spin symmetry. Our result suggests that the Fronsdal programme for introducing interactions among higher-spin gauge fields cannot be completed without introducing new guiding principles, which could lie beyond the framework of classical field theory.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1704.07859,
title = {Higher-Spin Gauge Theories and Bulk Locality},
author = {Charlotte Sleight and Massimo Taronna},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1704.07859},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
10 pages + refs. v2: Improved presentation, clarifications and references added. Some parts removed which just reviewed previous published work. To appear in Physical Review Letters