Effective actions for dual massive (super) p-forms

Abstract

In $d$ dimensions, the model for a massless $p$-form in curved space is known to be a reducible gauge theory for $p>1$, and therefore its covariant quantisation cannot be carried out using the standard Faddeev-Popov scheme. However, adding a mass term and also introducing a Stueckelberg reformulation of the resulting $p$-form model, one ends up with an irreducible gauge theory which can be quantised à la Faddeev and Popov. We derive a compact expression for the massive $p$-form effective action, ${\Gamma }_p^{(m)}$, in terms of the functional determinants of Hodge-de Rham operators. We then show that the effective actions ${\Gamma }_p^{(m)}$ and ${\Gamma }_{d-p-1}^{(m)}$ differ by a topological invariant. This is a generalisation of the known result in the massless case that the effective actions ${\Gamma }_p$ and ${\Gamma }_{d-p-2}$ coincide modulo a topological term. Finally, our analysis is extended to the case of massive super $p$-forms coupled to background $\mathcal{N}=1$ supergravity in four dimensions. Specifically, we study the quantum dynamics of the following massive super $p$-forms: (i) vector multiplet; (ii) tensor multiplet; and (iii) three-form multiplet. It is demonstrated that the effective actions of the massive vector and tensor multiplets coincide. The effective action of the massive three-form is shown to be a sum of those corresponding to two massive scalar multiplets, modulo a topological term.

36 pages; V2: typos corrected, comments and references added; V3: published version

References in corpus (3)

• Quantum Equivalence of Massive Antisymmetric Tensor Field Models in Curved Space
• Three-form multiplet and Inflation
• Non-compact duality, super-Weyl invariance and effective actions

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• Dualities Among Massive, Partially Massless and Shift Symmetric Fields on (A)dS
• A note on higher rank descriptions of massless and massive spin-1 particles
• Introduction to the special issue dedicated to Michael J. Duff FRS on the occasion of his 70th birthday