A unified framework for graviton, "partially massless" graviton, and photon fields in de Sitter spacetime under conformal symmetry

Abstract

We develop a conformally invariant (CI) framework in $(1+3)$-dimensional de Sitter (dS) spacetime, that unifies the descriptions of graviton, ``partially massless'' graviton, and photon fields. This framework is grounded in a rigorous group-theoretical analysis in the Wigner sense and employs Dirac's six-cone formalism. Originally introduced by Dirac, the concept of conformal space and the six-cone formalism were used to derive the field equations for spinor and vector fields in $(1+3)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime in a manifestly CI form. Our framework extends this approach to dS spacetime, unifying the treatment of massless and ``partially massless'' fields with integer spin $s>0$ under conformal symmetry. This unification enhances the understanding of fundamental aspects of gravitational theories in curved backgrounds.

20 pages, version accepted for publication in Physical Review D