A 3-form Gauge Potential in 5D in connection with a Possible Dark Sector of 4D-Electrodynamics

Abstract

We here propose a 5-dimensional {\bf Abelian gauge} model based on the mixing between a $U(1)$ potential and an Abelian 3-form field by means of a topological mass term. An extended covariant derivative is introduced to minimally couple a Dirac field to the $U(1)$ potential, while this same covariant derivative non-minimally couples the 3-form field to the charged fermion. A number of properties are discussed in 5D; in particular, the appearance of a topological fermionic current. A 4-dimensional reduced version of the model is investigated and, { \bf in addition to the $U(1)$ electric- and magnetic-sort of fields,} there emerges an extra set of electric- and magnetic-like fields which contribute a negative pressure and may be identified as a possible fraction of dark energy. The role of the topological fermionic current is also contemplated upon dimensional reduction from 5D to 4D. Other issues we present in 4 space-time dimensions are the emergence {\bf of a pseudo-scalar massive particle,} an extra massive neutral gauge boson,{\bf which we interpret as a kind of paraphoton}, and the calculation of spin- and velocity-dependent interparticle potentials associated to the exchange of the intermediate bosonic fields of the model.