Comments on Higher-Spin Fields in Nontrivial Backgrounds

TL;DR

This paper investigates the algebraic structures governing the propagation of massive symmetric bosonic fields in curved backgrounds, proposing deformations of these algebras to ensure consistency, with applications to AdS spaces and string theory.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic method for deforming the consistency algebra of higher-spin fields in nontrivial backgrounds, ensuring their consistent propagation without higher-derivative terms.

Findings

Consistent propagation on AdS x S manifolds for arbitrary p and q.

Deformations are non-analytic in curvature but avoid higher derivatives.

Analytic deformations may require mixed-symmetry fields as in String Theory.

Abstract

We consider the free propagation of totally symmetric massive bosonic fields in nontrivial backgrounds. The mutual compatibility of the dynamical equations and constraints in flat space amounts to the existence of an Abelian algebra formed by the d'Alembertian, divergence and trace operators. The latter, along with the symmetrized gradient, symmetrized metric and spin operators, actually generate a bigger non-Abelian algebra, which we refer to as the "consistency" algebra. We argue that in nontrivial backgrounds, it is some deformed version of this algebra that governs the consistency of the system. This can be motivated, for example, from the theory of charged open strings in a background gauge field, where the Virasoro algebra ensures consistent propagation. For a gravitational background, we outline a systematic procedure of deforming the generators of the consistency algebra in order that their commutators close. We find that equal-radii AdSp X Sq manifolds, for arbitrary p and q, admit consistent propagation of massive and massless fields, with deformations that include no higher-derivative terms but are non-analytic in the curvature. We argue that analyticity of the deformations for a generic manifold may call for the inclusion of mixed-symmetry tensor fields like in String Theory.