Chiral forms and their deformations

TL;DR

This paper thoroughly analyzes the deformations of chiral forms within string theory, using BRST cohomology, and finds that no non-abelian local deformations are possible for pure chiral p-forms.

Contribution

It provides a complete solution to the local BRST cohomology for chiral forms, establishing the absence of non-abelian deformations in this context.

Findings

Complete cohomology classification achieved.

No non-abelian local deformations for chiral p-forms.

Results support the rigidity of pure chiral form systems.

Abstract

We systematically study deformations of chiral forms with applications to string theory in mind. To first order in the coupling constant, this problem can be translated into the calculation of the local BRST cohomological group at ghost number zero. We completely solve this cohomology and present detailed proofs of results announced in a previous letter. In particular, we show that there is no room for non-abelian, local, deformations of a pure system of chiral p-forms.