Electromagnetic helicity flux operators in higher dimensions

• Published in: The journal of high energy physics Vol. 2025; no. 4; pp. 26 - 52
• Main Authors: Liu, Wen-Bin, Long, Jiang, Zhou, Xin-Hao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 02.04.2025; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: AdS-CFT Correspondence; Algebra; Angular distribution; Classical and Quantum Gravitation; Elementary Particles; Euclidean space; Field Theories in Higher Dimensions; Gravitons; Group theory; Helicity; High energy physics; Operators; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Quantum Physics; Radiation; Regular Article - Theoretical Physics; Relativity Theory; Representations; Spacetime; String Theory; AdS-CFT Correspondence; Field Theories in Higher Dimensions
• ISSN: 1029-8479; 1029-8479
• DOI: 10.1007/JHEP04(2025)026

A bstract The helicity flux operator is a fascinating quantity that characterizes the angular distribution of the helicity of radiative photons or gravitons and it has many interesting physical consequences. In this paper, we construct the electromagnetic helicity flux operators which form a non-Abelian group in general dimensions, among which the minimal helicity flux operators form the massless representation of the little group, a finite spin unitary irreducible representation of the Poincaré group. As in four dimensions, they generate an extended angle-dependent transformation on the Carrollian manifold. Interestingly, there is no known corresponding bulk duality transformation in general dimensions. However, we can construct a topological Chern-Simons term that evaluates the minimal helicity flux operators at I + .