On Pauli's invention of non-abelian Kaluza-Klein Theory in 1953

TL;DR

Wolfgang Pauli independently developed a consistent higher-dimensional generalization of Kaluza-Klein theory in 1953, but did not publish it due to issues with gauge boson masses.

Contribution

Pauli's 1953 work represents the first known attempt at extending Kaluza-Klein theory to higher dimensions, predating later formal publications.

Findings

Pauli's 1953 theory was consistent and higher-dimensional

He identified issues with gauge boson mass generation

His work remained unpublished during his lifetime

Abstract

There are documents which show that Wolfgang Pauli developed in 1953 the first consistent generalization of the five-dimensional theory of Kaluza, Klein, Fock and others to a higher dimensional internal space. Because he saw no way to give masses to the gauge bosons, he refrained from publishing his results formally.