The Wess-Zumino Consistency Condition For p-Form Gauge Theories

TL;DR

This paper solves the Wess-Zumino consistency condition for p-form gauge theories, providing a comprehensive analysis of free and coupled models using descent equations.

Contribution

It offers the first complete solution to the antifield-independent Wess-Zumino condition for arbitrary p-form gauge fields, including coupled theories.

Findings

Derived the general solution for free p-form gauge theories.

Extended the solution to theories with Chapline-Manton couplings.

Developed a bottom-up approach using descent equations.

Abstract

The general solution of the antifield-independent Wess-Zumino consistency condition is worked out for models involving exterior form gauge fields of arbitrary degree. We consider both the free theory and theories with Chapline-Manton couplings. Our approach relies on solving the full set of descent equations by starting from the last element down ("bottom").