A Model Independent Ultraviolet Cutoff for Theories with Charged Massive Higher Spin Fields

Abstract

We argue that the theory of a massive higher spin field coupled to electromagnetism in flat space possesses an intrinsic, model independent, finite upper bound on its UV cutoff. By employing the Stueckelberg formalism we do a systematic study to quantify the degree of singularity of the massless limit in the cases of spin 2, 3, 3/2, and 5/2. We then generalize the results for arbitrary spin to find an expression for the maximum cutoff of the theory as a function of the particle's mass, spin, and electric charge. We also briefly explain the physical implications of the result and discuss how it could be sharpened by use of causality constraints.

44 pages; to appear in Nuclear Physics B, clarifying comments and references added

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• Causal Propagation of a Charged Spin 3/2 Field in an External Electromagnetic Background
• Natural Selection Rules: New Positivity Bounds for Massive Spinning Particles
• On massive spin 2 electromagnetic interactions
• Goldstones with Extended Shift Symmetries
• Manifest Duality for Partially Massless Higher Spins
• Higgs decay into photons through a spin-2 loop
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• Higher Spins and Current Exchanges
• Higgsinoless Supersymmetry and Hidden Gravity
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Swampland: The Cosmologist's Handbook to the string-theoretical Swampland Programme