Simple Unfolded Equations for Massive Higher Spins in AdS$_3$

Abstract

We propose a simple unfolded description of free massive higher spin particles in anti-de-Sitter spacetime. While our unfolded equation of motion has the standard form of a covariant constancy condition, our formulation differs from the standard one in that our field takes values in a different internal space, which for us is simply a unitary irreducible representation of the symmetry group. Our main result is the explicit construction, for the case of AdS$_3$, of a map from our formulation to the standard wave equations for massive higher spin particles, as well as to the unfolded description prevalent in the literature. It is hoped that our formulation may be used to clarify the group-theoretic content of interactions in higher spin theories.