Confinement of Massive Ghost in Quadratic Gravity

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Oda, Ichiro
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Oda, Ichiro
author_facet Oda, Ichiro
contents In the framework of the covariant canonical formalism of quadratic gravity, we consider the problem of confinement of massive ghost which violates the unitarity of the physical S-matrix. It is shown that if there is a bound state between the massive ghost and Faddeev-Popov ghost the massive ghost is confined in the zero-norm states through the BRST quartet mechanism, thereby the unitarity being restored. Based on the superfield formulation by Bonora and Tonin, we show that the asymptotic field of the massive ghost must be a massive dipole whereas that of the bound state obeys a massive Klein-Gordon equation. This situation may be of some similarity to color confinement in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) where it is conjectured that not a massless but a massive gluon is in fact confined.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_01966
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Confinement of Massive Ghost in Quadratic Gravity
Oda, Ichiro
High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
In the framework of the covariant canonical formalism of quadratic gravity, we consider the problem of confinement of massive ghost which violates the unitarity of the physical S-matrix. It is shown that if there is a bound state between the massive ghost and Faddeev-Popov ghost the massive ghost is confined in the zero-norm states through the BRST quartet mechanism, thereby the unitarity being restored. Based on the superfield formulation by Bonora and Tonin, we show that the asymptotic field of the massive ghost must be a massive dipole whereas that of the bound state obeys a massive Klein-Gordon equation. This situation may be of some similarity to color confinement in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) where it is conjectured that not a massless but a massive gluon is in fact confined.
title Confinement of Massive Ghost in Quadratic Gravity
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.01966