Admissible higher-spin algebras in flat space

Abstract

We study admissible higher-spin algebras in four-dimensional Minkowski space, namely algebras that admit the tower of massless higher-spin fields as a representation. Under several simplifying assumptions, we show that these can be of two types, which we refer to as collinear and half-collinear. The chiral higher-spin algebra provides an example of the latter. For the collinear ansatz considered here, direct solution of the Jacobi identity yields two families of Lie algebras. We also find an associative collinear algebra, which is commutative unless internal degrees of freedom are added.