Abstract
The Fierz-Pauli Lagrangian for massive particles with arbitrary integral spin , first obtained by Hagen and Singh, is examined in the limit of vanishing mass. Unexpectedly, a considerable simplification occurs. The potential is a symmetric tensor of rank ; the "trace" , obtained by contraction of a pair of indices against the flat-space metric, does not vanish but the trace of does. The wave equation admits a gauge group, and this implies conditions on the source. The divergence of the source need not vanish, only the traceless projection of the divergence must be zero; this is a major departure from the usual assumption and may bear on the question of the existence of a physically interesting source for fields with spin ≥3. This weaker condition on the source is sufficient to guarantee that only are transmitted between sources. A generalized Gupta program is proposed, that is, a search for a scheme for generating a theory of interacting, massless particles, consistent to all orders in the coupling constant.
- Received 5 July 1978
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.18.3624
©1978 American Physical Society