Off-shell higher-spin fields in AdS4 and external currents

We construct an unfolded system for off-shell fields of arbitrary integer spin in 4d anti-de Sitter space. To this end we couple an on-shell system, encoding Fronsdal equations, to external Fronsdal currents for which we find an unfolded formulation. We present a reduction of the Fronsdal current system which brings it to the unfolded Fierz-Pauli system describing massive fields of arbitrary integer spin. Reformulating off-shell higher-spin system as the set of Schwinger–Dyson equations we compute propagators of higher-spin fields in the de Donder gauge directly from the unfolded equations. We discover operators that significantly simplify this computation, allowing a straightforward extraction of wave equations from an unfolded system.

Seeking SUSY fixed points in the 4 − ϵ expansion

We use the 4 − ϵ expansion to search for fixed points corresponding to 2 + 1 dimensional $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N =1 Wess-Zumino models of NΦ scalar superfields interacting through a cubic superpotential. In the NΦ = 3 case we classify all SUSY fixed points that are perturbatively unitary. In the NΦ = 4 and NΦ = 5 cases, we focus on fixed points where the scalar superfields form a single irreducible representation of the symmetry group (irreducible fixed points). For NΦ = 4 we show that the S5 invariant super Potts model is the only irreducible fixed point where the four scalar superfields are fully interacting. For NΦ = 5, we go through all Lie subgroups of O(5) and use the GAP system for computational discrete algebra to study finite subgroups of O(5) up to order 800. This analysis gives us three fully interacting irreducible fixed points. Of particular interest is a subgroup of O(5) that exhibits O(3)/Z2 symmetry. It turns out this fixed point can be generalized to a new family of models, with NΦ = $$ \frac{\mathrm{N}\left(\mathrm{N}-1\right)}{2} $$ N N − 1 2 − 1 and O(N)/Z2 symmetry, that exists for arbitrary integer N≥3.

A compendium of sphere path integrals

We study the manifestly covariant and local 1-loop path integrals on Sd+1 for general massive, shift-symmetric and (partially) massless totally symmetric tensor fields of arbitrary spin s ≥ 0 in any dimensions d ≥ 2. After reviewing the cases of massless fields with spin s = 1, 2, we provide a detailed derivation for path integrals of massless fields of arbitrary integer spins s ≥ 1. Following the standard procedure of Wick-rotating the negative conformal modes, we find a higher spin analog of Polchinski’s phase for any integer spin s ≥ 2. The derivations for low-spin (s = 0, 1, 2) massive, shift-symmetric and partially massless fields are also carried out explicitly. Finally, we provide general prescriptions for general massive and shift-symmetric fields of arbitrary integer spins and partially massless fields of arbitrary integer spins and depths.

Particular solutions of equations with multiple characteristics expressed through hypergeometric functions

In the paper, similarity solutions are constructed for a model equation with multiple characteristics of an arbitrary integer order. It is shown that the structure of similarity solutions depends on the mutual simplicity of the orders of derivatives with respect to the variable x and y, respectively. Frequent cases are considered in which they are shown as fundamental solutions of well-known equations, expressed in a linear way through the constructed similarity solutions.

Theoretical evaluation of partial credit scoring of the multiple-response test item

We compute and compare statistics of five different scoring rules for the selected-response type of test items where the number of keys is an arbitrary integer and the test-takers are perfectly rational agents. We consider a hypothetical test of factual recognition, in which the underlying ability that we seek to measure is the fraction of the item options that the test-taker truly recognizes (and not only guesses correctly), assumed directly proportional the test-taker’s domain knowledge. From these comparisons, two of these scoring rules are singled out as superior to the others.

AdS (super)projectors in three dimensions and partial masslessness

We derive the transverse projection operators for fields with arbitrary integer and half-integer spin on three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space, AdS3. The projectors are constructed in terms of the quadratic Casimir operators of the isometry group SO(2, 2) of AdS3. Their poles are demonstrated to correspond to (partially) massless fields. As an application, we make use of the projectors to recast the conformal and topologically massive higher-spin actions in AdS3 into a manifestly gauge-invariant and factorised form. We also propose operators which isolate the component of a field that is transverse and carries a definite helicity. Such fields correspond to irreducible representations of SO(2, 2). Our results are then extended to the case of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 AdS3 supersymmetry.

The σ− Cohomology Analysis for Symmetric Higher-Spin Fields

In this paper, we present a complete proof of the so-called First On-Shell Theorem that determines dynamical content of the unfolded equations for free symmetric massless fields of arbitrary integer spin in any dimension and arbitrary integer or half-integer spin in four dimensions. This is achieved by calculation of the respective σ− cohomology both in the tensor language in Minkowski space of any dimension and in terms of spinors in AdS4. In the d-dimensional case Hp(σ−) is computed for any p and interpretation of Hp(σ−) is given both for the original Fronsdal system and for the associated systems of higher form fields.

Laguerre Ensemble: Correlators, Hurwitz Numbers and Hodge Integrals

We consider the Laguerre partition function and derive explicit generating functions for connected correlators with arbitrary integer powers of traces in terms of products of Hahn polynomials. It was recently proven in Cunden et al. (Ann. Inst. Henri Poincaré D, to appear) that correlators have a topological expansion in terms of weakly or strictly monotone Hurwitz numbers that can be explicitly computed from our formulae. As a second result, we identify the Laguerre partition function with only positive couplings and a special value of the parameter $$\alpha =-1/2$$ α = - 1 / 2 with the modified GUE partition function, which has recently been introduced in Dubrovin et al. (Hodge-GUE correspondence and the discrete KdV equation. arXiv:1612.02333) as a generating function for Hodge integrals. This identification provides a direct and new link between monotone Hurwitz numbers and Hodge integrals.