String Theory and The Velo-Zwanziger Problem

by Rakibur Rahman (Pisa)

Tuesday 1 Mar 2011, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Zurich

TH Theory Conference Room (CERN)

The Velo-Zwanziger problem is the loss of (causal) propagation of a charged massive field with spin > 1, when minimally coupled to a constant electromagnetic background. String theory, originally proposed as a theory of massive high-spin particles, should spell out appropriate non-minimal terms to give a consistent description of such a system. We show that while string theory does achieve this feat, only the leading Regge trajectory fields can be exposed in isolation. We comment on the roles of the critical dimension and of the gyromagnetic ratio, and prescribe some consistent dimensional reduction that can produce interesting models.