Discussion on massive gravitons and propagating torsion in arbitrary dimensions

In this paper, we reassess a particular $R^2$-type gravity action in D dimensions, recently studied by Nakasone and Oda, now taking torsion effects into account. Considering that the vielbein and the spin connection carry independent propagating degrees of freedom, we conclude that ghosts and tachyons are absent only if torsion is nonpropagating, and we also conclude that there is no room for massive gravitons. To include these excitations, we understand how to enlarge Nakasone-Oda’s model by means of explicit torsion terms in the action and we discuss the unitarity of the enlarged model for arbitrary dimensions.