Gauging Higher Derivatives

TL;DR

This paper extends gauge theory formulations to include second derivatives of fields and introduces symmetric tensor gauge fields, providing a generalized framework for gauge-invariant Lagrangians.

Contribution

It generalizes the construction of gauge-invariant Lagrangians to higher derivatives and introduces symmetric tensor gauge fields.

Findings

Derived covariant derivatives for higher-derivative fields

Defined gauge-field strengths for tensor gauge fields

Established a generalized gauge-invariant Lagrangian framework

Abstract

The usual prescription for constructing gauge-invariant Lagrangian is generalized to the case where a Lagrangian contains second derivatives of fields as well as first derivatives. Symmetric tensor fields in addition to the usual vector fields are introduced as gauge fields. Covariant derivatives and gauge-field strengths are determined.