Massless particles in higher dimensions
Steven Weinberg
Abstract
In spacetimes of any dimensionality, the massless particle states that can be created and destroyed by a field in a given representation of the Lorentz group are severely constrained by the condition that the invariant Abelian subgroup of the little group must leave these states invariant. A number of examples are given of the massless one-particle states that can be described by various tensor and spinor-tensor fields, and a speculation is offered for the general case.
Topics & Concepts
Massless particleLorentz groupInvariant (physics)SpinorMathematical physicsPhysicsAbelian groupTensor (intrinsic definition)Group (periodic table)Lorentz transformationCurse of dimensionalityTheoretical physicsPure mathematicsMathematicsClassical mechanicsQuantum mechanicsStatisticsNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity TheoriesCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesBlack Holes and Theoretical Physics