Continuous spin gauge field in (A)dS space

Abstract

Totally symmetric continuous spin field propagating in (A)dS is studied. Lagrangian gauge invariant formulation for such field is developed. Lagrangian of continuous spin field is constructed in terms of double traceless tensor fields, while gauge transformations are constructed in terms of traceless gauge transformation parameters. de Donder like gauge condition that leads to simple gauge fixed Lagrangian is found. Gauge-fixed Lagrangian invariant under global BRST transformations is presented. The BRST Lagrangian is used for computation of a partition function. It is demonstrated that the partition function of the continuous spin field is equal to one. Various decoupling limits of the continuous spin field are also studied.