Massless Rarita-Schwinger polarization count

ID: massless-rarita-schwinger-polarization-count

Gauge equivalence permits gamma-trace gauge. The Rarita-Schwinger field equation then gives transversality and a massless Dirac equation for each component. For momentum along the third axis, residual gauge removes the temporal and longitudinal components. The remaining constraint is , with in the two-dimensional kernel of . Spinor helicity is paired with vector helicity of the same sign, leaving only . A Majorana spinor reality condition identifies antiparticles; a Dirac vector-spinor has separate antiparticle modes.

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