Basic Introduction to Higher-Spin Theories

This is a collection of my lecture notes on the higher-spin theory course given for students at the Institute for Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University. The goal of these lectures is to give an introduction to higher-spin theories accessible to master level students which would enable them to read the higher-spin literature. I start by introducing basic relevant notions of representation theory and the associated field-theoretic descriptions. Focusing on massless symmetric fields I review different approaches to interactions as well as the no-go results. I end the lectures by reviewing some of the currently available positive results on interactions of massless higher-spin fields, namely, holographic, Chern-Simons and chiral higher-spin theories.

Automated summary

This is a collection of lecture notes on the higher-spin theory course given at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The aim of these lectures is to introduce master level students to higher-spin theories and enable them to read the higher-spin literature. The topics covered include representation theory, field-theoretic descriptions, interactions and positive results on interactions of massless higher-spin fields.