551 research outputs found
Topological mass generation and forms
In this work we revisit the topological mass generation of 2-forms and
establish a connection to the unique derivative coupling arising in the quartic
Lagrangian of the systematic construction of massive form interactions,
relating in this way BF theories to Galileon-like theories of 2-forms. In terms
of a massless form and a massless form , the topological term
manifests itself as the interaction , where is the
field strength of the form. Such an interaction leads to a mechanism of
generation of mass, usually referred to as "topological generation of mass" in
which the single degree of freedom propagated by the form is absorbed by
the form, generating a massive mode for the form. Using the
systematical construction in terms of the Levi-Civita tensor, it was shown
that, apart from the quadratic and quartic Lagrangians, Galileon-like
derivative self-interactions for the massive 2-form do not exist. A unique
quartic Lagrangian
arises in this construction in a way that it corresponds to a total derivative
on its own but ceases to be so once an overall general function is introduced.
We show that it exactly corresponds to the same interaction of topological mass
generation. Based on the decoupling limit analysis of the interactions, we
bring out supporting arguments for the uniqueness of such a topological mass
term and absence of the Galileon-like interactions. Finally, we discuss some
preliminary applications in cosmology.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, journal versio
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