Abstract
This thesis is devoted to the construction of theories describing the consistent propagation of conformal higher-spin fields on curved three- and four-dimensional spacetimes. Closed-form expressions for the corresponding action functionals are obtained on arbitrary conformally-flat backgrounds for the first time. In three dimensions, it is shown that these are the most general backgrounds allowing consistent propagation. In four dimensions, we extend this result by deriving models for various conformal higher-spin fields that are gauge-invariant on Bach-flat backgrounds. Supersymmetric extensions of the above results are also provided, as well as several novel applications.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
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Award date | 14 Jan 2022 |
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Publication status | Unpublished - 2021 |