Worldline Higher Spin Gravity

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Cho, Minkyeu, Joung, Euihun, Oh, Taehwan, Tran, Tung
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Cho, Minkyeu
Joung, Euihun
Oh, Taehwan
Tran, Tung
author_facet Cho, Minkyeu
Joung, Euihun
Oh, Taehwan
Tran, Tung
contents We propose a worldline formulation of higher-spin gravity (HSG) in $\mathrm{AdS}_4$, based on a simple twistor action. Taken at face value, the model describes only the free propagation of massless higher-spin fields. The central observation of this work is that the model admits a natural double-line interpretation, which supplies a geometric prescription for gluing worldlines at interaction vertices, in close parallel with the joining of strings in string theory. Building on this picture, we construct $\mathrm{AdS}$-covariant vertex operators for all massless higher-spin fields, show that they satisfy the Bargmann-Wigner equations, and use them to compute the n-point correlation functions of type-A and type-B HSG as worldline path integrals of these vertex operators. In the boundary limit these correlators reproduce the higher-spin current correlators of free boson and free fermion vector models. We further discuss the embedding of the worldline theory into Poisson sigma model, where the doubled-line structure acquires a geometric origin as the two edges of an open string worldsheet, together with several consequences of this enlarged framework -- fractional branes, loop expansion, unoriented projection, and the prospect of a worldsheet formulation of HSG.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_27956
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Worldline Higher Spin Gravity
Cho, Minkyeu
Joung, Euihun
Oh, Taehwan
Tran, Tung
High Energy Physics - Theory
We propose a worldline formulation of higher-spin gravity (HSG) in $\mathrm{AdS}_4$, based on a simple twistor action. Taken at face value, the model describes only the free propagation of massless higher-spin fields. The central observation of this work is that the model admits a natural double-line interpretation, which supplies a geometric prescription for gluing worldlines at interaction vertices, in close parallel with the joining of strings in string theory. Building on this picture, we construct $\mathrm{AdS}$-covariant vertex operators for all massless higher-spin fields, show that they satisfy the Bargmann-Wigner equations, and use them to compute the n-point correlation functions of type-A and type-B HSG as worldline path integrals of these vertex operators. In the boundary limit these correlators reproduce the higher-spin current correlators of free boson and free fermion vector models. We further discuss the embedding of the worldline theory into Poisson sigma model, where the doubled-line structure acquires a geometric origin as the two edges of an open string worldsheet, together with several consequences of this enlarged framework -- fractional branes, loop expansion, unoriented projection, and the prospect of a worldsheet formulation of HSG.
title Worldline Higher Spin Gravity
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27956