Matter-coupled higher spin gravities in 3d: no- and yes-go results

Abstract Massless higher-spin fields show no preference for any value of the cosmological constant in 3d. All matter-free higher-spin gravities in 3d are equivalent to Chern-Simons theories with an appropriate choice of gauge algebra. For various reasons, including holography, it is important to enr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexey Sharapov, Evgeny Skvortsov, Arseny Sukhanov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-04-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2025)155
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Summary:Abstract Massless higher-spin fields show no preference for any value of the cosmological constant in 3d. All matter-free higher-spin gravities in 3d are equivalent to Chern-Simons theories with an appropriate choice of gauge algebra. For various reasons, including holography, it is important to enrich them with matter fields. In (A)dS 3, the coupling of matter fields to higher-spin fields is well-known to the leading order and is determined by the representation theory. We extend this result to flat space, where the relevant higher-spin algebra is the Poisson algebra, aka w 1+∞ . However, we show that both in flat and (A)dS 3 spaces there are no nontrivial higher order deformations/interactions. Nevertheless, by enlarging the field content with some auxiliary fields and taking advantage of the chiral higher-spin gravity’s vertices, it is possible to construct an exotic matter-coupled theory on (A)dS 3 that is perturbatively local. It also admits a flat limit. The equations of motion have the form of a Poisson sigma-model and a meaningful action has the form of a Courant sigma-model. We also explore the potential for embedding this theory into a holographic duality.
ISSN:1029-8479