Higher-Spin Gravity in Two Dimensions with Vanishing Cosmological Constant

Abstract

In this paper, we use a version of the BF formulation of two-dimensional dilaton gravity that allows to define a gauge theory of the two-dimensional Poincar\'e or Maxwell algebras and several of their higher-spin generalisations, both of finite and infinite dimension. The spectrum of the two-dimensional higher-spin gravity with vanishing cosmological constant based on the extended, infinite-dimensional higher-spin algebra is shown to contain an infinite collection of scalar degrees of freedom with a continuum of ever increasing mass, corresponding to the twisted-(co)adjoint representation. We comment on an approach to include backreaction of the scalar fields on the gravity sector at the level of formal equations of motion, thereby providing a first example of a fully interacting higher-spin gravity theory with vanishing cosmological constant in two dimensions.