We consider massive half-integer higher spin fields coupled to an external constant electromagnetic field in flat space of an arbitrary dimension and construct a gauge invariant Lagrangian in the linear approximation in the external field. A procedure for finding the gauge-invariant Lagrangians is based on the BRST construction where no off-shell constraints on the fields and on the gauge parameters are imposed from the very beginning. As an example of the general procedure, we derive a gauge invariant Lagrangian for a massive fermionic field with spin 3/2 which contains a set of auxiliary fields and gauge symmetries.
We construct a Lagrangian description of irreducible half-integer higher-spin representations of the Poincare group with the corresponding Young tableaux having two rows, on a basis of the BRST approach. Starting with a description of fermionic higher-spin fields in a flat space of any dimension in terms of an auxiliary Fock space, we realize a conversion of the initial operator constraint system (constructed with respect to the relations extracting irreducible Poincare-group representations) into a first-class constraint system. For this purpose, we find auxiliary representations of the constraint subsuperalgebra containing the subsystem of second-class constraints in terms of Verma modules. We propose a universal procedure of constructing gauge-invariant Lagrangians with reducible gauge symmetries describing the dynamics of both massless and massive fermionic fields of any spin. No off-shell constraints for the fields and gauge parameters are used from the very beginning. It is shown that the space of BRST cohomologies with a vanishing ghost number is determined only by the constraints corresponding to an irreducible Poincare-group representation. To illustrate the general construction, we obtain a Lagrangian description of fermionic fields with generalized spin (3/2,1/2) and (3/2,3/2) on a flat background containing the complete set of auxiliary fields and gauge symmetries.
We continue the construction of a Lagrangian description of irreducible half-integer higher-spin representations of the Poincare group with an arbitrary Young tableaux having $k$ rows, on a basis of the BRST--BFV approach suggested for bosonic fields in our first article (Nucl. Phys. B862 (2012) 270, [arXiv:1110.5044[hep-th]). Starting from a description of fermionic mixed-symmetry higher-spin fields in a flat space of any dimension in terms of an auxiliary Fock space associated with a special Poincare module, we realize a conversion of the initial operator constraint system (constructed with respect to the relations extracting irreducible Poincare-group representations) into a system of first-class constraints. To do this, we find, in first time, by means of generalized Verma module the auxiliary representations of the constraint subsuperalgebra, to be isomorphic due to Howe duality to $osp(k|2k)$ superalgebra, and containing the subsystem of second-class constraints in terms of new oscillator variables. We suggest a universal procedure of finding unconstrained gauge-invariant Lagrangians with reducible gauge symmetries, describing the dynamics of both massless and massive fermionic fields of any spin. It is shown that the space of BRST cohomologies with a vanishing ghost number is determined only by constraints corresponding to an irreducible Poincare-group representation. As examples of the general approach, we propose a method of Lagrangian construction for fermionic fields subject to an arbitrary Young tableaux having 3 rows, and obtain a gauge-invariant Lagrangian for a new model of a massless rank-3 spin-tensor field of spin (5/2,3/2) with first-stage reducible gauge symmetries and a non-gauge Lagrangian for a massive rank-3 spin-tensor field of spin (5/2,3/2).
We study a possibility of Lagrangian formulation for free higher spin bosonic totally symmetric tensor field on the background manifold characterizing by the arbitrary metric, vector and third rank tensor fields in framework of BRST approach. Assuming existence of massless and flat limits in the Lagrangian and using the most general form of the operators of constraints we show that the algebra generated by these operators will be closed only for constant curvature space with no nontrivial coupling to the third rank tensor and the strength of the vector fields. This result finally proves that the consistent Lagrangian formulation at the conditions under consideration is possible only in constant curvature Riemann space.
In this short note we present a Lagrangian formulation for free bosonic Higher Spin fields which belong to massless reducible representations of D-dimensional Anti de Sitter group using an ambient space formalism.
The details of unconstrained Lagrangian formulations (being continuation of earlier developed research for Bose particles in NPB 862 (2012) 270, [arXiv:1110.5044[hep-th]], Phys. of Part. and Nucl. 43 (2012) 689, [arXiv:1202.4710 [hep-th]]) are reviewed for Fermi particles propagated on an arbitrary dimensional Minkowski space-time and described by the unitary irreducible half-integer higher-spin representations of the Poincare group subject to Young tableaux $Y(s_1,...,s_k)$ with $k$ rows. The procedure is based on the construction of the Verma modules and finding auxiliary oscillator realizations for the orthosymplectic $osp(1|2k)$ superalgebra which encodes the second-class operator constraints subsystem in the HS symmetry superalgebra. Applying of an universal BRST-BFV approach permit to reproduce gauge-invariant Lagrangians with reducible gauge symmetries describing the free dynamics of both massless and massive fermionic fields of any spin with appropriate number of gauge and Stukelberg fields. The general construction possesses by the obvious possibility to derive Lagrangians with only holonomic constraints.