Rotating Higher Spin Partition Functions and Extended BMS Symmetries

Dec 10, 2015
57 pages
Published in:
  • JHEP 04 (2016) 034
  • Published: Apr 6, 2016
e-Print:

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Abstract: (Springer)
We evaluate one-loop partition functions of higher-spin fields in thermal flat space with angular potentials, this computation is performed in arbitrary space-time dimension, and the result is a simple combination of Poincaré characters. We then focus on dimension three, showing that suitable products of one-loop partition functions coincide with vacuum characters of higher-spin asymptotic symmetry algebras at null infinity. These are extensions of the bms3_{3} algebra that emerges in pure gravity, and we propose a way to build their unitary representations and to compute the associated characters. We also extend our investigations to supergravity and to a class of gauge theories involving higher-spin fermionic fields.
Note:
  • 58 pages; clarifications and references added; version to be published in JHEP
  • Field Theories in Higher Dimensions
  • Field Theories in Lower Dimensions
  • Higher Spin Gravity
  • Higher Spin Symmetry
  • space-time: dimension
  • spin: high
  • partition function
  • rotation
  • Poincare
  • thermal