Higher-Spin Gravity in Two Dimensions with Vanishing Cosmological Constant
Xavier Bekaert, Michel Pannier
TLDR
This paper presents a 2D higher-spin gravity theory with vanishing cosmological constant, featuring interacting scalar fields and an infinite mass spectrum.
Key contributions
- Utilizes a BF formulation of 2D dilaton gravity for gauge theories of Poincaré/Maxwell algebras.
- Identifies an infinite collection of scalar degrees of freedom with a continuum of increasing mass.
- Proposes an approach to include scalar field backreaction on gravity, enabling full interaction.
- Offers the first example of a fully interacting 2D higher-spin gravity with vanishing cosmological constant.
Why it matters
This work introduces a novel, fully interacting higher-spin gravity theory in two dimensions, a significant step in theoretical physics. It provides a concrete framework for studying complex gravitational systems with scalar field interactions. This could advance our understanding of quantum gravity and related high-energy phenomena.
Original Abstract
In this paper, we use a version of the BF formulation of two-dimensional dilaton gravity that allows to define a gauge theory of the two-dimensional Poincaré or Maxwell algebras and several of their higher-spin generalisations, both of finite and infinite dimension. The spectrum of the two-dimensional higher-spin gravity with vanishing cosmological constant based on the extended, infinite-dimensional higher-spin algebra is shown to contain an infinite collection of scalar degrees of freedom with a continuum of ever increasing mass, corresponding to the twisted-(co)adjoint representation. We comment on an approach to include backreaction of the scalar fields on the gravity sector at the level of formal equations of motion, thereby providing a first example of a fully interacting higher-spin gravity theory with vanishing cosmological constant in two dimensions.
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