Positivity and causal localizability in higher spin quantum field theories

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that string-local quantum field theory (SLFT) preserves positivity and causality in higher spin problems, resolving key issues like the Velo-Zwanziger causality problem and providing a new perspective on the Higgs mechanism.

Contribution

It introduces a Lorentz-covariant, causal string field theory framework that relies on positivity and causality, challenging traditional gauge symmetry explanations for phenomena like the Higgs mechanism.

Findings

SLFT resolves the Velo-Zwanziger causality problem.

Higgs particles emerge from positivity and causality, not spontaneous symmetry breaking.

String-independence of the S-matrix constrains interaction forms.

Abstract

It is shown that the recently introduced positivity and causality preserving string-local quantum field theory (SLFT) resolves most No-Go situations in higher spin problems. This includes in particular the Velo-Zwanziger causality problem which turns out to be related in an interesting way to the solution of zero mass Weinberg-Witten issue. In contrast to the indefinite metric and ghosts of gauge theory, SLFT uses only positivity-respecting physical degrees of freedom. The result is a fully Lorentz-covariant and causal string field theory in which light- or space-like linear strings transform covariant under Lorentz transformation. The cooperation of causality and quantum positivity in the presence of interacting s particles leads to remarkable conceptual changes. It turns out that the presence of H-selfinteractions in the Higgs model is not the result of SSB on a postulated Mexican hat potential, but solely the consequence of the implementation of positivity and causality. These principles (and not the imposed gauge symmetry) account also for the Lie-algebra structure of the leading contributions of selfinteracting vector mesons. Second order consistency of selfinteracting vector mesons in SLFT requires the presence of H-particles; this, and not SSB, is the raison d'\^etre for H. The basic conceptual and calculational tool of SLFT is the S-matrix. Its string-independence is a powerful restriction which determines the form of interaction densities in terms of the model-defining particle content and plays a fundamental role in the construction of pl observables and sl interpolating fields.