We propose a theory of three-dimensional (anti) de Sitter gravity carrying Chan-Paton color charges. We define the theory by Chern-Simons formulation with the gauge algebra (gl 2 ⊕ gl 2 ) ⊗ u(N ), obtaining a color-decorated version of interacting spinone and spin-two fields. We also describe the theory in metric formulation and show that, among N 2 massless spin-two fields, only the singlet one plays the role of metric graviton whereas the rest behave as colored spinning matter that strongly interacts at large N . Remarkably, these colored spinning matter acts as Higgs field and generates a non-trivial potential of staircase shape. At each extremum labelled by k = 0, . . . , [ N −1 2 ], the u(N ) color gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken down to u(N − k) ⊕ u(k) and provides different (A)dS backgrounds with the cosmological constants N N −2k 2 Λ. When this symmetry breaking takes place, the spin-two Goldstone modes combine with (or are eaten by) the spin-one gauge fields to become partially-massless spin-two fields. We discuss various aspects of this theory and highlight physical implications.

Abstract:We study the color-decoration of higher-spin (anti)-de Sitter gravity in three dimensions. We show that the rainbow vacua, which we found recently for the colored gravity theory, also pertain in the colored higher-spin theory. The color singlet spin-two plays the role of first fundamental form (metric). The difference is that when spontaneous breaking of color symmetry takes place, the Goldstone modes of massless spin-two combine with all other spins and become the maximal-depth partially massless fields of the highest spin in the theory, forming a Regge trajectory.

Understanding Higgs mechanism for higher-spin gauge fields is an outstanding open problem. We investigate this problem in the context of Kaluza-Klein compactification. Starting from a free massless higher-spin field in (d + 2)-dimensional anti-de Sitter space and compactifying over a finite angular wedge, we obtain an infinite tower of heavy, light and massless higher-spin fields in (d + 1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. All massive higher-spin fields are described gauge invariantly in terms of Stueckelberg fields. The spectrum depends on the boundary conditions imposed at both ends of the wedges. We observed that higher-derivative boundary condition is inevitable for spin greater than three. For some higher-derivative boundary conditions, equivalently, spectrum-dependent boundary conditions, we get a non-unitary representation of partially-massless higher-spin fields of varying depth. We present intuitive picture which higher-derivative boundary conditions yield non-unitary system in terms of boundary action. We argue that isotropic Lifshitz interfaces in O(N ) Heisenberg magnet or O(N ) Gross-Neveu model provides the holographic dual conformal field theory and propose experimental test of (inverse) Higgs mechanism for massive and partially massless higher-spin fields.