Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

On the theory of higher spin fields

Journal Article · · Nuovo Cimento
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02747684· OSTI ID:4283250
Recent experiments on strange particles have given some support for the possibility that elementary particles of spin higher than 1 may exist. In particular the observed angular correlation between the planes of production and decay of the LAMBDA and EPSILON hyperons and the anisotropy of the angular distribution of the EPSILON decay products seem to indicate that the spins of these particles are 3/2 or higher. A new simple formulation of the Fierz- Pauli theory is presented, and the structure of this theory for arbitrary spin is analyzed in some detail. All relativistic theories of free fields are based on the principle of invariance under the group of coordinate transformations known as the Lorentz group. Conditions for definition of mass and spin are formulated in terms of conditions on the wave functions, in the case of no external forces. A spin projection operator is introduced, which greatiy simplifies the treatment of the subsidiary conditions. The FierzPauli theory for electromagnetic interaction of particles of arbitrary spin is analyzed with the aid of the spin projection operator. Polarization operators are introduced and applied to the calculations of angular distribution of hyperon decay products. (W.D.M.)
Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Los Angeles
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
NSA Number:
NSA-13-010568
OSTI ID:
4283250
Journal Information:
Nuovo Cimento, Journal Name: Nuovo Cimento Journal Issue: S2 Vol. 9; ISSN 0029-6341
Country of Publication:
Country unknown/Code not available
Language:
English