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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ symmetry, and its supersymmetric generalization, is the principle behind two-time physics (2TPhysics) -. For a spinless particle, in the worldline formalism with local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ symmetry, the action is

$$S=𝑑\tau \left(_\tau X^MP_MA^{ij}Q_{ij}(X,P)\right),$$
(1)
where $`A^{ij}\left(\tau \right)=A^{ji}\left(\tau \right)`$ with $`i,j=1,2,`$ is the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge potential. This action is local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ invariant (see  and below) provided the three $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ are any general phase space functions that satisfy the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra under Poisson brackets

$$\{Q_{ij},Q_{kl}\}=\epsilon _{jk}Q_{il}+\epsilon _{ik}Q_{jl}+\epsilon _{jl}Q_{ik}+\epsilon _{il}Q_{jk}.$$
(2)
The antisymmetric $`\epsilon _{ij}=\epsilon _{ji}`$ is the invariant metric of Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ that is used to raise/lower indices.

The goal of this paper is to determine all possible $`Q_{ij}`$ as functions of phase space $`X^M,P^M`$ that satisfy this algebra. The solution will be given in the form of a power series in momenta which identify the background fields $`A_M\left(X\right)`$ and $`Z_{ij}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)`$

$$Q_{ij}(X,P)=\underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}Z_{ij}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)\left(P_{M_1}+A_{M_1}\left(X\right)\right)\left(P_{M_2}+A_{M_2}\left(X\right)\right)\mathrm{}\left(P_{M_s}+A_{M_s}\left(X\right)\right).$$
(3)
These $`d+2`$ dimensional fields will describe the particle interactions with the Maxwell field, gravitational field, and higher-spin fields, when interpreted in $`d`$ dimensions as a particular 2T to 1T holographic $`d`$-dimensional picture of the higher $`d+2`$ dimensional theory. Furthermore, as is the usual case in 2Tphysics, there are a large number of 2T to 1T holographic $`d`$-dimensional pictures of the same $`d+2`$ dimensional system. For any fixed background the resulting $`d`$-dimensional dynamical systems are interpreted as a unified family of 1T dynamical systems that are related to each other by duality type Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ transformations. This latter property is one of the novel unification features offered by 2Tphysics.

In previous investigations the general solution up to maximum spin $`s=2`$ was determined . The most general solution with higher-spin fields for arbitrary spin $`s`$ is given here. Such $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ are then the generators of local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$, with transformations of the coordinates $`(X^M,P_M)`$ given by

$$\delta _\omega X^M=\omega ^{ij}\left(\tau \right)\frac{Q_{ij}}{P_M},\delta _\omega P^M=\omega ^{ij}\left(\tau \right)\frac{Q_{ij}}{X_M},$$
(4)
where the $`\omega ^{ij}\left(\tau \right)=\omega ^{ji}\left(\tau \right)`$ are the local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge parameters . When the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge field $`A^{ij}\left(\tau \right)`$ transforms as usual in the adjoint representation,

$$\delta _\omega A^{ij}=_\tau \omega ^{ij}+[\omega ,A]^{ij},$$
(5)
the action (1) is gauge invariant $`\delta _\omega S=0,`$ provided the background fields $`Z_{ij}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)`$ and $`A_M\left(X\right)`$ are such that $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ satisfy the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra above. Thus, through the requirement of local Sp$`\left(2\right),`$ the background fields are restricted by certain differential equations that will be derived and solved in this paper. As we will see, the solution permits certain unrestricted functions that are interpreted as background fields of any spin in two lower dimensions.

An important aspect for the physical interpretation is that the equations of motion for the gauge field $`A^{ij}\left(\tau \right)`$ restricts the system to phase space configurations that obey the classical on-shell condition

$$Q_{ij}(X,P)=0.$$
(6)
The meaning of this equation is that physical configurations are gauge invariant and correspond to singlets of Sp($`2).`$ These equations have an enormous amount of information and provide a unification of a large number of one-time physics systems in the form of a single higher dimensional theory. One-time dynamical systems appear then as holographic images of the unifying bulk system that exists in one extra timelike and one extra spacelike dimensions. We will refer to this property as 2T to 1T holography.

This holography comes about because there are non-trivial solutions to (6) only iff the spacetime includes two timelike dimensions with signature $`(d,2)`$. By Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge fixing, two dimensions are eliminated, and $`d`$ dimensions are embedded inside $`d+2`$ dimensions in ways that are distinguishable from the point of view of the remaining timelike dimension. This provides the holographic images that are interpreted as distinguishable one-time dynamics. Thus one obtains a multitude of non-trivial solutions with different physical interpretations from the point of view of one time physics. Hence, for each set of fixed background fields that obey the local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ conditions, the 2Tphysics action above unifies various one-time physical systems (i.e. their actions, equations of motion, etc.) into a single 2Tphysics system.

To find all possible actions, one must first find all possible solutions of $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ that satisfy the off-shell Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra before imposing the singlet condition.

The simplest example is given by

$$Q_{11}=XX,Q_{12}=XP,Q_{22}=PP.$$
(7)
This form satisfies the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra for any number of dimensions $`X^M,P^M,`$ $`M=1,2,\mathrm{}D,`$ and any signature for the flat metric $`\eta _{MN}`$ used in the dot products $`XP=X^MP^N\eta _{MN},`$ etc. However, the on-shell condition (6) has non-trivial solutions only and only if the metric $`\eta _{MN}`$ has signature $`(d,2)`$ with two time-like dimensions: if the signature were Euclidean the solutions would be trivial $`X^M=P^M=0;`$ if there would be only one timelike dimension, then there would be no angular momentum $`L^{MN}=0`$ since $`X^M,P^M`$ would both be lightlike and parallel to each other; and if there were more than two timelike dimensions the solutions would have ghosts that could not be removed by the available Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge symmetry. Hence two timelike dimensions is the only non-trivial physical case allowed by the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ singlet condition (i.e. gauge invariance).

The general classical worldline problem that we will solve in this paper has a counterpart in non-commutative field theory (NCFT) with local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ symmetry as formulated recently in . The solution that we give here provides also a solution to the non-commutative (NC) field equations of motions that arise in that context. We note that in NCFT the same field $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ emerges as the local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ covariant left-derivative including the gauge field. The field strength is given by

$$G_{ij,kl}=[Q_{ij},Q_{kl}]_{}i\mathrm{}\left(\epsilon _{jk}Q_{il}+\epsilon _{ik}Q_{jl}+\epsilon _{jl}Q_{ik}+\epsilon _{il}Q_{jk}\right),$$
(8)
where the star commutator $`[Q_{ij},Q_{kl}]_{}=Q_{ij}Q_{kl}Q_{kl}Q_{ij}`$ is constructed using the Moyal star product

$$Q_{ij}Q_{kl}=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{i\mathrm{}}{2}\eta ^{MN}\left(\frac{}{X^M}\frac{}{\stackrel{~}{P}^N}\frac{}{P^M}\frac{}{\stackrel{~}{X}^N}\right)\right)Q_{ij}(X,P)Q_{kl}(\stackrel{~}{X},\stackrel{~}{P})|_{X=\stackrel{~}{X},P=\stackrel{~}{P}}.$$
(9)
Although there are general field configurations in NCFT that include non-linear field interactions , we will concentrate on a special solution of the NCFT equations of motion. The special solution is obtained when $`G_{ij,kl}=0,`$ (i.e. $`Q_{ij}`$ satisfies the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra under star commutators), and $`Q_{ij}`$ annihilates a wavefunction $`\mathrm{\Phi }(X,P)`$ that is interpreted as a singlet of Sp$`\left(2\right)`$

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{i\mathrm{}}}[Q_{ij},Q_{kl}]_{}`$ $`=`$ $`\epsilon _{jk}Q_{il}+\epsilon _{ik}Q_{jl}+\epsilon _{jl}Q_{ik}+\epsilon _{il}Q_{jk}`$ (10)
$`Q_{ij}\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (11)
These field equations are equivalent to the first quantization of the worldline theory in a quantum phase space formalism (as opposed to the more traditional pure position space or pure momentum space formalism).

Compared to the Poisson bracket that appears in (2) the star commutator is an infinite series in powers of $`\mathrm{}`$. It reduces to the Poisson bracket in the classical limit $`\mathrm{}0,`$

$$\frac{1}{i\mathrm{}}[Q_{ij},Q_{kl}]_{}\{Q_{ij},Q_{kl}\}.$$
(12)
Therefore, any solution for $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ of the form (3) that satisfies the Poisson bracket Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra (2) is normally expected to be only an approximate semi-classical solution of the NCFT equations (10,11) that involve the star product (9). However, we find a much better than expected solution: by choosing certain gauges of the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge symmetry in the NCFT approach, we learn that the classical solution of the Poisson bracket algebra in eq.(2) is also an exact solution of the star commutator algebra (10) to all orders of $`\mathrm{}`$.

We will see that the solution has two disconnected branches of background fields. The first branch has only low spins $`s2`$ including the gravitational field. The second branch has only high spins $`s2`$ starting with the gravitational field. These appear to have a correspondence to the massless states in string theory at extreme limits of the string tension $`T1/\alpha ^{}0,\mathrm{}.`$ Indeed when the Regge slope $`\alpha ^{}`$ goes to zero by fixing the graviton state only the low spin $`s2`$ massless states survive, and when the Regge slope $`\alpha ^{}`$ goes to infinity there are an infinite number of high spin massless states. The high spin fields that we find here correspond to those massless states obtained from the graviton trajectory $`s2`$.

The paper is organized as follows. In section 2 we discuss an infinite dimensional canonical transformation symmetry of the equations. In section 3, we use the symmetry to simplify the content of the background fields that appear in the expansion (3), and we impose the Poisson bracket algebra (2) to determine the field equations that must be satisfied by the remaining background fields. In section 4, we discuss two special coordinate systems to solve the field equations. Then we impose the gauge invariance condition $`Q_{ij}=0,`$ and interpret the holographic image as a relativistic particle in $`d`$ dimensions $`x^\mu ,`$ moving in the background of fields of various spins, including a scalar field $`u\left(x\right),`$ gauge field $`A_\mu \left(x\right),`$ gravitational field $`g^{\mu \nu }\left(x\right)`$ and higher-spin fields $`g^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}\left(x\right)`$ for any spin $`s`$. We also derive the gauge transformation rules of the higher-spin fields in $`d`$ dimensions, and learn that there are two disconnected branches. In section 5 we show that the classical solution is also an exact quantum solution of the star product system that emerges in NCFT with local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ symmetry. In section 6, we conclude with some remarks.

Our 2T approach to higher-spin fields makes connections to other methods in the literature. One connection occurs in a special Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge (section 4) which links to Dirac’s formulation of SO$`(d,2)`$ conformal symmetry by using $`d+2`$ dimensional fields to represent $`d`$ dimensional fields . In our paper this method is extended to all high spin fields as a particular 2T to 1T holographic picture. The $`d`$-dimensional system of this holographic picture has an overlap with a description of higher-spin fields given in , which is probably related to the approach of Vasiliev et al. (see  and references therein). It was shown in  that our special 1T holographic picture, when translated to the second order formalism (as opposed to the phase space formalism), is a completion of the de Wit-Freedman action  for a spinless relativistic particle interacting with higher-spin background fields.

## 2 Infinite dimensional symmetry

Although our initial problem is basically at the classical level, we will adopt the idea of the associative star product, in the $`\mathrm{}0`$ limit, as a convenient formalism. In this way our discussion will be naturally extended in section 5 to the case of NCFT which will be valid for any $`\mathrm{}`$. The Poisson bracket is written in terms of the star product (9) as a limit of the form

$$\{A,B\}=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}\frac{1}{i\mathrm{}}\left(ABBA\right)=\frac{A}{X^M}\frac{B}{P_M}\frac{B}{X^M}\frac{A}{P_M}.$$
(13)
Consider the following transformation of any function of phase space $`A(X,P)`$

$`A(X,P)`$ $``$ $`\stackrel{~}{A}(X,P)=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}Ae^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}`$ (14)
$`=`$ $`A+\{\epsilon ,A\}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2!}}\{\epsilon ,\{\epsilon ,A\}\}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3!}}\{\epsilon ,\{\epsilon ,\{\epsilon ,A\}\}\}+\mathrm{}`$ (15)
for any $`\epsilon (X,P).`$ If the $`\mathrm{}0`$ is not applied, every Poisson bracket on the right hand side is replaced by the star commutator. It is straightforward to see that the Poisson bracket of two such functions transforms as

$`\{A,B\}`$ $``$ $`\{\stackrel{~}{A},\stackrel{~}{B}\}=\{\left(\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}Ae^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}\right),\left(\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}Be^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}\right)\}`$ (16)
$`=`$ $`\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}\{A,B\}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}.`$ (17)
In particular, the phase space variables $`X^M,P_M`$ transform into

$$\stackrel{~}{X}^M=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}X^Me^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}},\stackrel{~}{P}_M=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}P_Me^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}},$$
(18)
and one can easily verify that the canonical Poisson brackets remain invariant

$$\{X^M,P_N\}=\{\stackrel{~}{X}^M,\stackrel{~}{P}_N\}=\delta _N^M.$$
(19)
So, the transformation we have defined is the most general canonical transformation. In particular, for infinitesimal $`\epsilon ,`$ one has

$$\delta _\epsilon X^M=\epsilon /P_M,\delta _\epsilon P_M=\epsilon /X^M,$$
(20)
which is again recognized as a general canonical transformation with generator $`\epsilon (X,P).`$ The generator $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ contains an infinite number of parameters, so this set of transformations form an infinite dimensional group. There is a resemblance between (20) and the expressions in (4) but note that those include general $`\tau `$ dependence in $`\omega ^{ij}\left(\tau \right)`$ and therefore are quite different.

Under general canonical transformations (18) the particle action (1) transforms as

$$S_{Q_{ij}}(X,P)S_{Q_{ij}}(\stackrel{~}{X},\stackrel{~}{P})=𝑑\tau \left(_\tau \stackrel{~}{X}^M\stackrel{~}{P}_MA^{ij}Q_{ij}(\stackrel{~}{X},\stackrel{~}{P})\right).$$
(21)
The first term is invariant $`𝑑\tau \left(_\tau \stackrel{~}{X}^M\stackrel{~}{P}_M\right)=𝑑\tau \left(_\tau X^MP_M\right).`$ This is easily verified for infinitesimal $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ since $`\delta _\epsilon \left(_\tau X^MP_M\right)`$ is a total derivative

$$\delta _\epsilon \left(_\tau X^MP_M\right)=_\tau \left(\epsilon P\frac{\epsilon }{P}\right).$$

However, the full action (1) is not invariant. Instead, it is mapped to a new action with a new set of background fields $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}(X,P)`$ given by

$`Q_{ij}(\stackrel{~}{X},\stackrel{~}{P})`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}(X,P)=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}Q_{ij}(X,P)e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}`$ (22)
$`S_{Q_{ij}}(X,P)`$ $``$ $`S_{Q_{ij}}(\stackrel{~}{X},\stackrel{~}{P})=S_{\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}}(X,P)={\displaystyle 𝑑\tau \left(_\tau X^MP_MA^{ij}\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}(X,P)\right)}.`$ (23)
After taking into account (17) we learn that the new $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}(X,P)`$ also satisfies the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra (2) if the old one $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ did. Thus, the new action $`S_{\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}}(X,P)`$ is again invariant under the local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ symmetry (4,5) using the new generators $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}`$, and is therefore in the class of actions we are seeking.

Thus, if we find a given solution for the background fields $`Z_{ij}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)`$ and $`A_M\left(X\right)`$ in (3) such that $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ satisfy the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra (2), we can find an infinite number of new solutions $`\stackrel{~}{Z}_{ij}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{A}_M\left(X\right)`$ by applying to $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ the infinite dimensional canonical transformation (22) for any function of phase space $`\epsilon (X,P).`$ We may write this function in a series form similar to (3) to display its infinite number of local parameters $`\epsilon _s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}(X)`$

$$\epsilon (X,P)=\underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\epsilon _s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)(P_{M_1}+A_{M_1})(P_{M_2}+A_{M_2})\mathrm{}(P_{M_s}+A_{M_s}).$$
(24)
Although this set of transformations is not a symmetry of the worldline action for a fixed set of background fields, it is evidently a symmetry in the space of actions for all possible background fields, by allowing those fields to transform. It is also an automorphism symmetry of the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra (2), and of the on-shell singlet condition (6) which identifies the physical sector. Furthermore, in the NCFT setting of  this is, in fact, the local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ symmetry with $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ playing the role of the local gauge parameter in NC gauge field theory. We will use this information to simplify our task of finding the general solution.

## 3 Imposing the Poisson bracket algebra

By taking into account the infinite dimensional symmetry of the previous section, we can always map a general $`Q_{11}(X,P)`$ to a function of only $`X^M`$

$$\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}Q_{ij}(X,P)e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}=W\left(X\right).$$
(25)
Conversely, given $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}=W\left(X\right)`$ we may reconstruct the general $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ by using the inverse transformation

$$Q_{11}(X,P)=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}W\left(X\right)e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}.$$
(26)
There is enough symmetry to map $`W\left(X\right)`$ to any desired non-zero function of $`X^M`$ that would permit the reconstruction (26) of the general $`Q_{11}(X,P),`$ but we postpone this freedom until a later stage (see next section) in order to first exhibit a more general setting.

After fixing $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}=W\left(X\right),`$ there is a remaining subgroup of transformations $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ for which the Poisson bracket $`\{\epsilon ,W\}`$ vanishes, and hence $`W\left(X\right)`$ is invariant under it. Using the form of (24) we see that the subgroup corresponds to those transformations that satisfy the condition

$$\frac{W}{X^{M_1}}\epsilon _{s1}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)=0,any\epsilon _0\left(X\right).$$
(27)
This subgroup can be used to further simplify the problem. To see how, let us consider the expansions

$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}(X,P)`$ $`=`$ $`W\left(X\right)`$ (28)
$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}(X,P)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}V_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(P_{M_1}+A_{M_1}\right)\left(P_{M_2}+A_{M_2}\right)\mathrm{}\left(P_{M_s}+A_{M_s}\right)`$ (29)
$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}(X,P)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(P_{M_1}+A_{M_1}\right)\left(P_{M_2}+A_{M_2}\right)\mathrm{}\left(P_{M_s}+A_{M_s}\right)`$ (30)
where $`G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)`$ and $`V_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(X\right)`$ are fully symmetric local tensors of rank $`s.`$

We can completely determine the coefficients $`V_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ in terms of $`W`$ and $`G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ by imposing one of the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ conditions $`\{\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11},\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}\}=4\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}`$

$$V_{s1}^{M_2M_3\mathrm{}M_s}=\frac{s}{4}\frac{W}{X^{M_1}}G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}.$$
(31)
Furthermore, by imposing another Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ condition $`\{\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11},\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}\}=2\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}`$ we find

$$\frac{W}{X^{M_1}}V_1^{M_1}=2W,\frac{W}{X^{M_1}}V_{s2}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}=0.$$
(32)
Now, for such $`V_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s},`$ by using the remaining subgroup symmetry (27) we can transform to a frame in which all $`V_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ for $`s2`$ vanish. By comparing the expressions (27,32) and counting parameters we see that this must be possible. To see it in more detail, we derive the infinitesimal transformation law for $`G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ and $`A_M`$ from

$$\delta Q_{22}=\left(Q_{22}/A\right)\delta A+\underset{s}{}\left(Q_{22}/G_s\right)\delta G_s=\{\epsilon ,Q_{22}\}$$
(33)
by expanding both sides in powers of $`\left(P+A\right)`$ and comparing coefficients. We write the result in symbolic notation by suppressing the indices

$`\delta A_M`$ $`=`$ $`_M\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_0_{\epsilon _1}A_M,`$ (34)
$`\delta G_0`$ $`=`$ $`\epsilon _1G_0,`$ (35)
$`\delta G_1`$ $`=`$ $`_{\epsilon _1}G_1\left(\epsilon _2G_0+\epsilon _2FG_1\right),`$ (36)
$`\delta G_{s2}`$ $`=`$ $`_{\epsilon _1}G_s\left(\epsilon _2G_{s1}G_{s1}\epsilon _2+\epsilon _2FG_s\right)\mathrm{}`$ (37)
$`\mathrm{}\left(\epsilon _sG_1G_1\epsilon _s+\epsilon _sFG_2\right)\left(\epsilon _{s+1}G_0+\epsilon _{s+1}FG_1\right).`$
In $`\delta G_{s2}`$ the dots $`\mathrm{}`$ represent terms of the form $`\left(\epsilon _kG_{sk+1}G_{sk+1}\epsilon _k+\epsilon _kFG_{sk+2}\right)`$ for all $`2<k<s.`$ Here $`F_{MN}`$ is the gauge field strength

$$F_{MN}\left(X\right)=_MA_N\left(X\right)_NA_M\left(X\right),$$
(38)
$`_{\epsilon _1}G_s`$ is the Lie derivative of the tensor $`G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ with respect to the vector $`\epsilon _1^M`$

$$\left(_{\epsilon _1}G_s\right)^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}=\epsilon _1G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}_K\epsilon _1^{M_1}G_s^{KM_2\mathrm{}M_s}\mathrm{}_K\epsilon _1^{M_s}G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}K}.$$
(39)
In the other terms, $`\epsilon _kG_l`$ (similarly $`G_k\epsilon _l`$) is the tensor

$$\epsilon _kG_l=\frac{k!l!}{\left(k+l1\right)!}\epsilon _k^{M_1(M_2\mathrm{}M_k}_{M_1}G_l^{M_{k+1}\mathrm{}M_{k+l})},$$
(40)
where all un-summed upper indices ($`k+l1`$ of them) are symmetrized, and $`\epsilon _kFG_l`$ is the tensor

$$\epsilon _kFG_l=\frac{k!l!}{\left(k+l2\right)!}\epsilon _k^{M_1(M_2\mathrm{}M_k}G_l^{M_{k+1}\mathrm{})M_{k+l}}F_{M_1M_{k+l}},$$
(41)
where all un-summed upper indices ($`k+l2`$ of them) are symmetrized. Finally $`\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_0`$ which appears in $`\delta A`$ is defined by $`\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_0=\epsilon _0+\epsilon _1A`$ .

From $`\delta A_M`$ it is evident that $`\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_0\left(X\right)`$ is a Yang-Mills type gauge parameter, and from $`_{\epsilon _1}G_s`$ it is clear that $`\epsilon _1^M\left(X\right)`$ is the parameter of general coordinate transformations in position space. The remaining parameters $`\epsilon _{s2}\left(X\right)`$ are gauge parameters for high spin fields (note that the derivative of the $`\epsilon _s`$ appear in the transformation rules). From the transformation laws for $`\delta A,\delta G_s`$ we find the transformation law for $`\delta V_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ by contracting both sides of the equation above with $`_MW\left(X\right)`$. After using the subgroup condition (27) and the definition (31) we find

$`\delta V_0`$ $`=`$ $`_{\epsilon _1}V_0,`$ (42)
$`\delta V_1`$ $`=`$ $`_{\epsilon _1}V_1\left(\epsilon _2V_0+\epsilon _2FV_1\right)`$ (43)
$`\delta V_{s2}`$ $`=`$ $`_{\epsilon _1}V_s\left(\epsilon _2V_{s1}V_{s1}\epsilon _2+\epsilon _2FV_s\right)\mathrm{}`$ (44)
$`\mathrm{}\left(\epsilon _sV_1V_1\epsilon _s+\epsilon _sFV_2\right)\left(\epsilon _{s+1}V_0+\epsilon _{s+1}FV_1\right).`$
The form of $`\delta V_k`$ is similar to the form of $`\delta G_k`$ as might be expected, since it can also be obtained from $`\delta Q_{12}=\{\epsilon ,Q_{12}\},`$ but we have derived it by taking into account the restriction (31) and the subgroup condition (27).

For $`V_s`$ of the form (32) the subgroup parameters are sufficient to transform to a frame where $`V_{s2}=0.`$ Therefore, we may always start from a frame of the form

$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}(X,P)`$ $`=`$ $`W\left(X\right);V_1W=2W,`$ (45)
$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}(X,P)`$ $`=`$ $`V_0+V_1^M\left(P_M+A_M\right);V_0={\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}_NWG_1^N,V_1^M={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_NWG_2^{MN},`$ (46)
$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}(X,P)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}G_s^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}\left(P_{M_1}+A_{M_1}\right)\left(P_{M_2}+A_{M_2}\right)\mathrm{}\left(P_{M_s}+A_{M_s}\right)`$ (47)
and transform to the most general solution via

$$Q_{ij}(X,P)=\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}(X,P)e^{i\epsilon /\mathrm{}}.$$
(48)
In $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}`$ the term $`G_1^M`$ may be set equal to zero by shifting $`A_MA_M\frac{1}{2}\left(G_2\right)_{MN}G_1^N+\mathrm{},`$ and then redefining all other background fields. Here we have assumed that the tensor $`G_2^{MN}`$ has an inverse $`\left(G_2\right)_{MN}`$; in fact, as we will see soon, it will have the meaning of a metric. Therefore, we will assume $`G_1^M=0`$ without any loss of generality. In that case we see from (46) that we must also have $`V_0=0.`$

It suffices to impose the remaining relations of the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra in this frame. By comparing the coefficients of every power of $`(P+A)`$ in the condition $`\{\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12},\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}\}=2\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}`$ we derive the following equations

$$V_1^MF_{MN}=0,_{V_1}G_s=2G_s,$$
(49)
where $`_{V_1}G_s`$ is the Lie derivative with respect to the vector $`V_1`$ (see (39)). These, together with

$$V_1^M=\frac{1}{2}_NWG_2^{MN},V_1W=2W,V_0=0,G_1=0,WG_{s3}=0,$$
(50)
that we used before, provide the complete set of equations that must be satisfied to have a closure of the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ algebra. These background fields, together with the background fields provided by the general $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ through eq.(48), generalize the results of , where only $`A_M,G_0`$ and $`G_2^{MN}`$ had been included.

There still is remaining canonical symmetry that keeps the form of the above $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}`$ unchanged. This is given by the subgroup of symmetries associated with $`\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_0\left(X\right),\epsilon _1^M\left(X\right)`$ which have the meaning of local parameters for Yang-Mills and general coordinate transformations, and also the higher-spin symmetries that satisfy

$$W\epsilon _{s1}=0,_{V_1}\epsilon _{s1}=0,G_0\epsilon _2=0.$$
(51)
The conditions in (51) are obtained after setting $`G_1=V_{s2}=0`$ and $`\delta G_1=\delta V_{s2}=0,`$ as well as using (27).

It is possible to go further in using the remaining $`\epsilon _s\left(X\right)`$ transformations, but this will not be necessary since the physical content of the worldline system will be more transparent by using the background fields $`G_s`$ and $`A_M`$ identified up to this stage. However, we will return to the remaining symmetry at a later stage to clarify its action on the fields, and thus discover that there are two disconnected branches.

## 4 Choosing coordinates and W(X)

As mentioned in the beginning of the previous section the original $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ transformations permits a choice for the function $`W\left(X\right),`$ while the surviving $`\epsilon _1^M\left(X\right)`$ which is equivalent to general coordinate transformations further permits a choice for the vector $`V_1^M\left(X\right),`$ as long as it is consistent with the differential conditions given above. Given this freedom we will explore two choices for $`W\left(X\right)`$ and $`V_1^M\left(X\right)`$ in this section.

### 4.1 SO(d,2) covariant $`W\left(X\right)=X^2`$

We choose $`W\left(X\right)`$ and $`V_1^M\left(X\right)`$ as follows

$$W\left(X\right)=X^2=X^MX^N\eta _{MN},V_1^M\left(X\right)=X^M,$$
(52)
where $`\eta _{MN}`$ is the metric for SO$`(d,2).`$ These coincide with part of the simplest Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ system (7). We cannot choose any other signature $`\eta _{MN}`$ since we already know that the constraints $`Q_{ij}(X,P)=0`$ have solutions only when the signature includes two timelike dimensions.

Using (49,50), the metric $`G_2^{MN}\left(X\right)`$ takes the form

$$G_2^{MN}=\eta ^{MN}+h_2^{MN}\left(X\right),Xh_2^{MN}=0,h_2^{MN}X_N=0.$$
(53)
$`G_2^{MN}`$ is an invertible metric. The fluctuation $`h_2^{MN}\left(X\right)`$ is any homogeneous function of degree zero and it is orthogonal to $`X_N.`$

Using the $`\epsilon _0\left(X\right)`$ gauge degree of freedom we work in the axial gauge $`XA=0,`$ then the condition $`X^MF_{MN}=0`$ reduces to

$$\left(X+1\right)A_M=0,XA=0.$$
(54)
Therefore $`A_M\left(X\right)`$ is any homogeneous vector of degree $`\left(1\right)`$ and it is orthogonal to $`X_M.`$ There still is remaining gauge symmetry $`\delta A_M=_M\epsilon _0`$ provided $`\epsilon _0\left(X\right)`$ is a homogeneous function of degree zero

$$X\epsilon _0=0.$$
(55)
Similarly, the higher-spin fields in (49,50) satisfy

$$\left(Xs+2\right)G_{s3}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}=0,X_{M_1}G_{s3}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}=0,$$
(56)
These equations are easily solved by homogeneous tensors of degree $`s2`$ that are orthogonal to $`X_N.`$

The $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}`$ now take the SO$`(d,2)`$ covariant form

$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}`$ $`=`$ $`X^2,\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}=XP,`$ (57)
$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}`$ $`=`$ $`G_0+{\displaystyle \underset{s=2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}G_s^{M_1\mathrm{}M_s}\left(P+A\right)_{M_1}\mathrm{}\left(P+A\right)_{M_s}.`$ (58)
Thus, $`Q_{11}`$ and $`Q_{12}`$ are reduced to the form of the simplest 2Tphysics system (7), while $`Q_{22}`$ contains the non-trivial background fields. The remaining symmetry of (51) is given by

$$G_0\epsilon _2=0;\left(Xs\right)\epsilon _{s0}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}=0,X_{M_1}\epsilon _{s1}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}=0.$$
(59)
where all dot products involve the metric $`\eta _{MN}`$ of SO$`(d,2).`$ Hence the frame is SO$`(d,2)`$ covariant, and this will be reflected in any of the gauge fixed versions of the theory. As before, $`\epsilon _0\left(X\right)`$ is the (homogeneous) Yang-Mills type gauge parameter and the $`\epsilon _{s1}`$ play the role of gauge parameters for higher-spin fields as in (37).

To solve the constraints $`Q_{ij}=0`$ we can choose various Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauges that produce the 2T to 1T holographic reduction. This identifies some combination of the $`X^M\left(\tau \right)`$ with the $`\tau `$ parameter, thus reducing the 2Tphysics description to the 1Tphysics description. Depending on the choice made, the 1T dynamics of the resulting holographic picture in $`d`$ dimensions appears different from the point of view of one-time. This produces various holographic pictures in an analogous way to the free case discussed previously in . We plan to discuss several examples of holographic pictures in the presence of background fields in a future publication.

### 4.2 Lightcone type W(X)=-2$`\kappa w`$

There are coordinate choices that provide a shortcut to some of the holographic pictures, although they do not illustrate the magical unification of various 1T dynamics into a single 2T dynamics as clearly as the SO$`(d,2)`$ formalism of the previous section. Nevertheless, since such coordinate systems can be useful, we analyze one that is closely related to the relativistic particle dynamics in $`d`$ dimensions<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1We call the coordinate system in this section “lightcone type” because, in the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge $`\kappa =1,`$ it can be related to a lightcone type Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge ($`X^+^{}=1`$) in the SO$`(d,2)`$ covariant formalism of the previous section. Once the gauge is fixed from either point of view, the 1T holographic picture describes the massless relativistic particle (see e.g. ) including its interactions with background fields.. Following  we consider a coordinate system $`X^M=(\kappa ,w,x^\mu )`$ and use the symmetries to choose $`V_1^M=(\kappa ,w,0)`$ and $`W=2w\kappa `$. Then, as in  the solution for the gauge field, the spin-2 gravity field $`G_2^{MN},`$ and the scalar field $`G_0`$ are

$`A_\kappa `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{w}{2\kappa ^2}}B({\displaystyle \frac{w}{\kappa }},x),A_w={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\kappa }}B({\displaystyle \frac{w}{\kappa }},x),A_\mu =A_\mu ({\displaystyle \frac{w}{\kappa }},x),`$ (60)
$`G_2^{MN}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\frac{\kappa }{w}\left(\gamma 1\right)& \gamma & \frac{1}{\kappa }W^\nu \\ \gamma & \frac{w}{\kappa }\left(\gamma 1\right)& \frac{w}{\kappa ^2}W^\nu \\ \frac{1}{\kappa }W^\mu & \frac{w}{\kappa ^2}W^\mu & \frac{g^{\mu \nu }}{\kappa ^2}\end{array}\right),`$ (64)
$`G_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\kappa ^2}}u(x,{\displaystyle \frac{w}{\kappa }}).`$ (65)
where the functions $`A_\mu (\frac{w}{\kappa },x),B(\frac{w}{\kappa },x),\gamma (x,\frac{w}{\kappa }),`$ $`W^\mu (x,\frac{w}{\kappa }),`$ $`g^{\mu \nu }(x,\frac{w}{\kappa }),`$ $`u(x,\frac{w}{\kappa })`$ are arbitrary functions of only $`x^\mu `$ and the ratio $`\frac{w}{\kappa }`$.

We now extend this analysis to the higher-spin fields. The equation

$$G_{s3}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}_{M_s}W=0$$
(66)
becomes

$$wG_{s3}^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{s1}\kappa }=\kappa G_{s3}^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{s1}w}.$$
(67)
This shows that not all the components of $`G_{s3}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ are independent. The condition

$$_{V_1}G_s=2G_s$$
(68)
becomes

$$\left(\kappa _\kappa +w_w\right)G_s^{M_1\mathrm{}M_s}\underset{n=1}{\overset{s}{}}\delta _\kappa ^{M_n}G_s^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{n1}\kappa M_{n+1}\mathrm{}M_s}\underset{n=1}{\overset{s}{}}\delta _w^{M_n}G_s^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{n1}wM_{n+1}\mathrm{}M_s}=2G_s^{M_1\mathrm{}M_s}.$$
(69)
Specializing the indices for independent components and also using the relation (67) between the components of $`G_{s3}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ we get the solution for all components of $`G_{s3}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$ as

$$G_s^{\stackrel{m}{\stackrel{}{\kappa \mathrm{}\kappa }}\stackrel{n}{\stackrel{}{w\mathrm{}w}}\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _{snm}}=\kappa ^{m2}\left(w\right)^ng_{s,(snm)}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _{snm}},$$
(70)
where $`g_{s,k}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _k}(x,\frac{w}{\kappa }),`$ with $`k=1,\mathrm{},s,`$ are arbitrary functions and independent of each other.

For this solution, the generators of Sp$`(2,R)`$ in (45-47) become

$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}`$ $`=`$ $`2\kappa w,`$ (71)
$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}`$ $`=`$ $`\kappa p_\kappa +wp_w,`$ (72)
$`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\kappa w}}\left[\left(\kappa p_\kappa {\displaystyle \frac{wB}{2\kappa }}\right)^2+\left(wp_w+{\displaystyle \frac{wB}{2\kappa }}\right)^2\right]+{\displaystyle \frac{H+H^{}}{\kappa ^2}}.`$ (73)
where $`H,H^{},`$ which contain the background fields, are defined by

$`H`$ $`=`$ $`u+g^{\mu \nu }(p_\mu +A_\mu )(p_\nu +A_\nu )+{\displaystyle \underset{s=3}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}g_{s,s}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _s}(p_{\mu _1}+A_{\mu _1})\mathrm{}(p_{\mu _s}+A_{\mu _s}),`$ (74)
$`H^{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{s=2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{s1}{}}}g_{s,k}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _k}\left(\kappa p_\kappa wp_w{\displaystyle \frac{wB}{\kappa }}\right)^{sk}(p_{\mu _1}+A_{\mu _1})\mathrm{}(p_{\mu _k}+A_{\mu _k}).`$ (75)
$`H`$ contains only the highest spin components $`g_{s,s}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}`$ that emerge from $`G_{s2}^{M_1M_2\mathrm{}M_s}`$. Here we have defined the metric $`g^{\mu \nu }=g_{2,2}^{\mu \nu }`$ as in (64). All the remaining lower spin components $`g_{s,k}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _k}`$ with $`ks1`$ are included in $`H^{}.`$ In the $`s=2`$ term of $`H^{}`$ we have defined $`g_{2,0}\gamma \kappa /w`$ and $`g_{2,1}^\mu W^\mu `$ in comparison to (64). It can be easily verified that these $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}`$ obey the Sp$`(2,R)`$ algebra for any background fields $`u,g_{\mu \nu },A_\mu ,B`$ and $`g_{s,k}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _k}`$ ($`k=0,\mathrm{},s`$) that are arbitrary functions of $`(x^\mu ,\frac{w}{\kappa })`$.

We next can choose some Sp$`(2,R)`$ gauges to solve the Sp$`(2,R)`$ constraints $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}=0`$ and reduce to a one-time theory containing the higher-spin fields. As in the low spin-1 and spin-2 cases of , we choose $`\kappa \left(\tau \right)=1`$ and $`p_w\left(\tau \right)=0`$, and solve $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}=\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}=0`$ in the form $`w\left(\tau \right)=p_\kappa \left(\tau \right)=0`$. We also use the canonical freedom $`\epsilon _0`$ to work in a gauge that insures $`\frac{wB}{\kappa }0,`$ as $`\frac{w}{\kappa }0`$. Then the $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{ij}`$ simplify to

$$\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}=\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}=0,\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}=H,$$
(76)
At this point, the two-time $`d+2`$ dimensional theory described by the original action (1) reduces to a one-time theory in $`d`$ dimensions

$$S=𝑑\tau \left(_\tau x^\mu p_\mu \frac{1}{2}A^{22}H\right).$$
(77)
This is a particular 2T to 1T holographic picture of the higher dimensional theory obtained in a specific gauge. There remains unfixed one gauge subgroup of Sp$`(2,R)`$ which corresponds to $`\tau `$ reparametrization, and the corresponding Hamiltonian constraint is $`H0`$. There is also remaining canonical freedom which we will discuss below. Here, in addition to the usual background fields $`g_{\mu \nu }\left(x\right)`$, $`A_\mu \left(x\right)`$, $`u\left(x\right),`$ the Hamiltonian includes the higher-spin fields $`g_{s,s}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}`$ that now are functions of only the $`d`$ dimensional coordinates $`x^\mu ,`$ since $`w/\kappa =0`$. Like $`\gamma `$ and $`W^\mu `$ in the gravity case, the non-leading $`g_{s,k}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _k}`$ for $`k<s`$ decuple from the dynamics that govern the time development of $`x^\mu (\tau )`$ in this Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge.

A similar conclusion is obtained if we use the SO$`(d,2)`$ covariant formalism of the previous section when we choose the Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauges $`X^+^{}=1,`$ and $`P^+^{}=P_{^{}}=0`$. The algebra for arriving at the final conclusion (77) is simpler in the coordinate frame of the present section<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2The $`(\kappa ,w,x^\mu )`$ coordinate system can be related to the one in the previous section by a change of variables as follows. Starting from the previous section define a lightcone type basis $`X^\pm ^{}=\left(X^0^{}\pm X^1^{}\right)/\sqrt{2}`$, and then make the change of variables $`X^+^{}=\kappa ,`$ $`X^\mu =\kappa x^\mu ,`$ $`X^{^{}}=w+\kappa x^2/2`$. Then $`W=XX=2X^+^{}X^{^{}}+X^\mu X_\mu =2\kappa w`$. The momenta (with lower indices) are transformed as follows $`P_+^{}=p_\kappa +p_wx^2/2xp/\kappa ,`$ $`P_{^{}}=p_w`$, and $`P_\mu =p_\mu /\kappa p_wx_\mu .`$ One can varify that $`\dot{X}P=\dot{X}^+^{}P_+^{}+\dot{X}^{^{}}P_{^{}}+\dot{X}^\mu P_\mu =\dot{\kappa }p_\kappa +\dot{w}p_w+\dot{x}p`$. In this coordinate basis $`XP=\kappa p_\kappa +wp_w`$ and the dimension operator $`X`$ takes the form $`X=\kappa _\kappa +w_w.`$ This shows that all the results obtained with the lightcone type $`W=2\kappa w`$ can also be recovered from the covariant $`W\left(X\right)=X^2,`$ and vice-versa., and this was the reason for introducing the “lightcone type” $`W=2\kappa w`$. However, from the SO$`(d,2)`$ covariant formalism we learn that there is a hidden SO$`(d,2)`$ in the $`d`$ dimensional action (77). This can be explored by examining the SO$`(d,2)`$ transformations produced by $`\epsilon _1^M=\omega ^{MN}X_N`$, obeying (59), on all the fields through the Lie derivative $`\delta A_M=_{\epsilon _1}A_M`$, $`\delta G_s=_{\epsilon _1}G_s,`$ but this will not be further pursued here.

In the present Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge we find a link to  where the action (77) was discussed. The symmetries inherited from our $`d+2`$ dimensional approach (discussed below) have some overlap with those discussed in . It was shown in  that the first order action (77) improves and completes the second order action discussed in . Also, the incomplete local invariance discussed in  is now completed by the inclusion of the higher powers of velocity which were unknown in . In the second order formalism one verifies once more that the action describes a particle moving in the background of arbitrary electromagnetic, gravitational and higher-spin fields in the remaining $`d`$ dimensional spacetime.

### 4.3 Surviving canonical symmetry in d dimensions

Let us now analyze the form of the $`d`$ dimensional canonical symmetry inherited from our $`d+2`$ dimensional approach. Recall that the infinite dimensional canonical symmetry $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ is not a symmetry of the action, it is only a symmetry if the fields are permitted to transform in the space of all possible worldline actions. What we wish to determine here is: what is the subset of $`d`$ dimensional actions that are related to each other by the surviving canonical symmetry in the remaining $`d`$ dimensions. As we will see, there are disconnected branches, one for low spin backgrounds and one for high spin backgrounds. These branches may correspond to independent theories, or to different phases or limits of the same theory. Interestingly, string theory seems to offer a possibility of making a connection to these branches in the zero and infinite tension limits. Furthermore, we will show that the non-commutative field theory constructed in , which includes interactions, contains precisely the same branches in the free limit.

As shown at the end of section 3, a subgroup of the higher-spin symmetries that keeps the form of $`Q_{ij}`$ unchanged satisfy

$$W\epsilon _{s1}=0,_{V_1}\epsilon _{s1}=0,G_0\epsilon _2=0.$$
(78)
We will solve these equations explicitly and identify the unconstrained remaining symmetry parameters. We will discuss the case for $`W=2\kappa w`$ and $`V_1^M=(\kappa ,w,0)`$ of the previous subsection. The first equation becomes

$$w\epsilon _{s1}^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{s1}\kappa }=\kappa \epsilon _{s1}^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{s1}w}$$
(79)
and the second equation becomes

$$\left(\kappa _\kappa +w_w\right)\epsilon _{s1}^{M_1\mathrm{}M_s}\underset{n=1}{\overset{s}{}}\delta _\kappa ^{M_n}\epsilon _{s1}^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{n1}\kappa M_{n+1}\mathrm{}M_s}\underset{n=1}{\overset{s}{}}\delta _w^{M_n}\epsilon _{s1}^{M_1\mathrm{}M_{n1}wM_{n+1}\mathrm{}M_s}=0.$$
(80)
Specializing the indices for independent components and also using (79) we get the solution for all components of the higher-spin symmetry parameters, that obey the subgroup conditions, as

$$\epsilon _{s1}^{\stackrel{m}{\stackrel{}{\kappa \mathrm{}\kappa }}\stackrel{n}{\stackrel{}{w\mathrm{}w}}\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _{snm}}=(1)^n\kappa ^mw^n\epsilon _{s,\left(snm\right)}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _{snm}},$$
(81)
where $`\epsilon _{s,k}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _k}(x,\frac{w}{\kappa }),`$ with $`k=0,1,\mathrm{},s,`$ are arbitrary parameters and independent of each other. Therefore the form of $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ that satisfies all the conditions for the remaining symmetry takes the form

$$\epsilon _{remain}(X,P)=\underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{k=0}{\overset{s}{}}\epsilon _{s,k}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _k}\left(\kappa p_\kappa wp_w\frac{w}{\kappa }B\right)^{sk}(p_{\mu _1}+A_{\mu _1})\mathrm{}(p_{\mu _k}+A_{\mu _k}).$$
(82)
This identifies $`\epsilon _{s,k}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _k}(x,\frac{w}{\kappa }),`$ with $`k=0,1,\mathrm{},s,`$ as the unconstrained remaining canonical transformation parameters.

For notational purposes we are going to use the symbol $`\epsilon _s^k`$ for $`\epsilon _{s,k}^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _k}`$ from now on. We will also indicate the highest-spin fields $`g_{s,s}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}`$ in $`d`$ dimensions as simply $`g_s.`$ The third condition in (51) gives some extra constraint on $`\epsilon _2^{MN}`$ which will not be needed here, so we are going to ignore that condition in the rest of this discussion.

Let us now consider the gauge $`\kappa (\tau )=1`$ and $`p_\kappa (\tau )=0,`$ $`B=0,`$ and the physical sector that satisfies $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_{11}=\stackrel{~}{Q}_{12}=0`$ (or $`w\left(\tau \right)=p_w\left(\tau \right)=0`$) as described by the $`d`$-dimensional holographic picture whose action is (77). We discuss the role of the remaining canonical symmetry in this gauge. The transformation laws for the relevant high-spin fields $`g_s,`$ computed from (33) through $`\{\epsilon _{remain},\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}\}`$, come only from the terms $`k=\left(s1\right),s`$ in (82) since we set $`w=p_w=p_\kappa =0`$ and $`\kappa =1`$ after performing the differentiation in the Poisson bracket $`\{\epsilon _{remain},\stackrel{~}{Q}_{22}\}`$. Equivalently, one may obtain the transformation laws in this gauge by specializing the indices in (37). The result is

$`\delta g_s`$ $`=`$ $`\left(2\epsilon _1^0g_s_{\epsilon _1^1}g_s\right)`$ (83)
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{n=2}{\overset{s1}{}}}\left(2\epsilon _n^{n1}g_{sn+1}\epsilon _n^ng_{sn+1}+g_{sn+1}\epsilon _n^n\epsilon _n^nFg_{sn+2}\right)`$
$`\epsilon _s^sFg_2+2(s+1)\epsilon _{s+1}^su\epsilon _{s+1}^{s+1}u.`$
Each higher-spin field $`g_s`$ is transformed by lower-rank transformation parameters, $`\epsilon _n^{n1}`$ and $`\epsilon _n^n`$ $`(n=1,\mathrm{},s1)`$, and also by $`\epsilon _s^s`$, $`\epsilon _{s+1}^s`$ and $`\epsilon _{s+1}^{s+1}`$. In passing we note that these transformations inherited from $`d+2`$ dimensions are somewhat different than those considered in  although there is some overlap.

If we specialize to $`s=2`$, we get

$$\delta g_2^{\mu \nu }=2\epsilon _1^0g_2^{\mu \nu }_{\epsilon _1^1}g_2^{\mu \nu }2\epsilon _2^{\rho (\mu }F_{\rho \sigma }g_2^{\nu )\sigma }+6\epsilon _3^{\mu \nu }u3\epsilon _3^{\mu \nu \rho }_\rho u.$$
(84)
Other than the usual general coordinate transformations associated with $`\epsilon _1^1`$ and the Weyl dilatations associated with $`\epsilon _1^0`$, it contains second rank $`\epsilon _2^{\rho \mu },\epsilon _3^{\mu \nu }`$ and third rank $`\epsilon _3^{\mu \nu \rho }`$ transformation parameters. The latter unusual transformations mix the gravitational field with the gauge field $`F_{\rho \sigma }`$ and with the scalar field $`u.`$ Under such transformations, if a field theory with such local symmetry could exist, one could remove the gravitational field completely. In fact the same remark applies to all $`g_s.`$ If these could be true gauge symmetries, all worldline theories would be canonically transformed to trivial backgrounds. However, there are no known field theories that realize this local symmetry, and therefore it does not make sense to interpret them as symmetries in the larger space of $`d`$ dimensional worldline theories. This was of concern in . Fortunately there is a legitimate resolution by realizing that there are two branches of worldline theories, one for low spin ($`s2`$) and one for high spin ($`s2`$), that form consistent sets under the transformations as follows.

The first branch is associated with familiar field theories for the low spin sector including $`u,A_\mu ,g_{\mu \nu }.`$ The corresponding set of worldline actions $`S(u,A,g_2)`$, in which all background fields $`g_{s3}`$ vanish, are transformed into each other under gauge transformations $`\epsilon _0\left(x\right),`$ dilatations $`\epsilon _1^0`$ and general coordinate transformations $`\epsilon _1^1`$. Since $`g_{s3}=0,`$ all $`\epsilon _{s2}`$ must be set to zero, and then the low spin parameters $`\epsilon _0,\epsilon _1^0,\epsilon _1^1`$ form a closed group of local transformations realized on only $`u,A_\mu ,g_{\mu \nu },`$ as seen from the transformation laws given above. This defines a branch of worldline theories for low spins that are connected to each other by the low spin canonical transformations. This is the usual set of familiar symmetries and actions.

A second branch of worldline theories exists when the background fields $`u,A_\mu `$ vanish. In this high spin branch only $`g_{s2}`$ occurs and therefore, according to the transformations given above they form a basis for a representation including only the lower rank gauge parameters $`\epsilon _k^{k1}`$ and $`\epsilon _k^k`$ $`(k=1,\mathrm{},s1)`$. Then the transformation rule for the higher-spin fields in $`d`$ dimensions becomes

$`\delta g_{s2}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{s1}{}}}\left(2\epsilon _n^{n1}g_{sn+1}\epsilon _n^ng_{sn+1}+g_{sn+1}\epsilon _n^n\right)`$ (86)
$`=`$ $`\left(2\epsilon _1^0g_s_{\epsilon _1^1}g_s\right)+\left(2\epsilon _2^1g_{s1}\epsilon _2^2g_{s1}+g_{s1}\epsilon _2^2\right)+\mathrm{}`$
$`\mathrm{}+\left(2\epsilon _{s1}^{s2}g_2\epsilon _{s1}^{s1}g_2+g_2\epsilon _{s1}^{s1}\right).`$
We note that the very last term contains $`g_2^{\mu \nu },`$ which is the $`d`$ dimensional metric that can be used to raise indices

$$\delta g_s^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}=\mathrm{}+\left(2g_2^{(\mu _1\mu _2}\epsilon _{s1,s2}^{\mu _3\mathrm{}\mu _s)}\epsilon _{s1,s1}^{\mu (\mu _3\mathrm{}\mu _s}_\mu g_2^{\mu _1\mu _2)}+^{(\mu _1}\epsilon _{s1,s1}^{\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s)}\right).$$
(87)
The very last term contains the usual derivative term expected in the gauge transformation laws of a high spin gauge field in $`d`$ dimensions.

Not all components of the remaining $`g_s`$ can be removed with these gauge transformations; therefore physical components survive in this high spin branch. In particular, there is enough remaining freedom to make further gauge choices such that $`g_s^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}`$ is double traceless (i.e. $`g_{s4}^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}\left(g_2\right)_{\mu _1\mu _2}\left(g_2\right)_{\mu _3\mu _4}=0`$), as needed for a correct description of high spin fields . The high-spin background fields defined in this way belong to a unitary theory. It is known that with the double traceless condition on $`g_s`$, and the gauge symmetry generated by traceless $`\epsilon _{s1,s1}`$ (which is a subgroup of our case), the correct kinetic terms for high spin fields are written uniquely in a field theory approach. Thus, the worldline theory constructed with the double traceless $`g_s`$ makes sense physically. We would not be allowed to make canonical transformations to further simplify the worldline theory if we assume that it corresponds to a more complete theory in which the extra transformations could not be implemented.

Having clarified this point, we may still analyze the fate of the canonical symmetry left over after the double traceless condition. The remaining gauge parameters must satisfy the conditions that follow from the double tracelessness of $`\delta g_s:`$

$$\left(\mathrm{}+2g_2^{(\mu _1\mu _2}\epsilon _{s1,s2}^{\mu _3\mathrm{}\mu _s)}\epsilon _{s1,s1}^{\mu (\mu _3\mathrm{}\mu _s}_\mu g_2^{\mu _1\mu _2)}+^{(\mu _1}\epsilon _{s1,s1}^{\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s)}\right)\left(g_2\right)_{\mu _1\mu _2}\left(g_2\right)_{\mu _3\mu _4}=0.$$
(88)
If not prevented by some mechanism in a complete theory, this remaining symmetry is sufficiently strong to make the $`g_s^{\mu _1\mu _2\mathrm{}\mu _s}`$ not just double traceless, but also traceless. In this case, the resulting gravity theory would be conformal gravity, which is naively non-unitary. However, there are ways of curing the problem in a conformal gravitational field theory setting. One approach is to include “compensator” fields that absorb the extra gauge symmetry, thus leaving behind only the correct amount of symmetry as described in the previous paragraph. The possibility for such a mechanism appears to be present in the local Sp$`(2,R)`$ non-commutative field theory formalism of  that includes interactions, and in which $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ plays the role of gauge symmetry parameters. Indeed, the background field configurations described so far in the worldline formalism also emerge in the solution of the non-commutative field equations of this theory, in the free limit, as described in the following section.

It is also interesting to note that string theory seems to be compatible with our results. String theory contains two branches of massless states in two extreme limits, that is, when the string tension vanishes or goes to infinity, as outlined in the introduction. To better understand this possible relation to string theory we would have to construct transformation rules for the extremes of string theory, which are not presently known in the literature. Hence, the proposed connection to string theory is a conjecture at this stage. If this connection is verified, it is interesting to speculate that the high energy, fixed angle, string scattering amplitudes, computed by Gross and Mende , may describe the scattering of a particle in the type of background fields we find in this paper. Note that an appropriate infinite slope limit $`\alpha ^{}\mathrm{}`$ can be imitated by the limit $`s,t,u\mathrm{}`$ (at fixed angle) used by Gross and Mende, since $`\alpha ^{}`$ multiplies these quantities in string amplitudes.

We also find a connection between our transformation rules inherited from $`d+2`$ dimensions, and the transformation rules in $`𝒲`$-geometry analyzed by Hull  in the special cases of $`d=1,2`$. The $`𝒲`$-geometry or generalized Riemannian geometry is defined by a generalized metric function, on the tangent bundle $`TM`$ of the target manifold $`M,`$ which defines the square of the length of a tangent vector $`y^\mu T_xM`$ at $`xM`$. The inverse metric is also generalized by introducing a co-metric function $`F(x,y)`$ on the cotangent bundle, which is expanded in $`y`$ as in

$$F(x,y)=\underset{s}{}\frac{1}{s}g_s^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _s}(x)y_{\mu _1}\mathrm{}y_{\mu _s}$$
(89)
where the coefficients $`g_s^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _s}(x)`$ are contravariant tensors on $`M`$. It is observed in  that the coefficients $`g_s^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _s}(x)`$ in co-metric function can be associated to higher-spin gauge fields on $`M`$ only if the co-metric function is invariant under symplectic diffeomorphism group of the cotangent bundle of $`M`$ in $`d=1`$ and under a subgroup of it in $`d=2`$. This leads to a natural set of transformation rules for the gauge fields $`g_s^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _s}(x)`$ in dimensions $`d=1`$ and 2. The transformation rules that are given in  for $`g_s^{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _s}(x)`$ in $`d=1`$ and $`d=2`$ exactly matches the transformation rules (86) that we found in any dimension by using the 2Tphysics techniques. In the language of  the first term in (86) is the $`𝒲`$-Weyl transformation, and the second and the third terms combined are the action of some subgroup of the symplectic diffeomorhisms of the cotangent bundle of space-time. We emphasize that our results are valid in any dimension.

## 5 Solution of NCFT equation to all orders in $`\mathrm{}`$

One may ask the question: which field theory could one write down, such that its equations of motion, after ignoring field interactions, reproduce the first quantized version of the physics described by our worldline theory. That is, we wish to construct the analog of the Klein-Gordon equation reproducing the first quantization of the relativistic particle. Then in the form of field theory interactions are included. A non-commutative field theory (NCFT) formulation of 2Tphysics which addresses and solves this question is introduced in . The basic ingredient is the local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ symmetry, but now in a NC field theoretic setting. The NCFT equations have a special solution described by the NC field equations (10,11). We would like to find all $`Q_{ij}(X,P)`$ that satisfies these equations to all orders of $`\mathrm{}`$ which appears in the star products.

It is clear that the classical solution for the background fields discussed up to now is a solution in the $`\mathrm{}0`$ limit, since then the star commutator reduces to the classical Poisson bracket. However, surprisingly, by using an appropriate set of coordinates, the classical solution is also an exact quantum solution. These magical coordinates occur whenever $`W\left(X\right)`$ is at the most quadratic in $`X^M`$ and $`V_1^M\left(X\right)`$ is at the most linear in $`X^M.`$ Thus both of the cases $`W=X^2`$ and $`W=2\kappa w`$ discussed in the previous section provide exact quantum solutions, and similarly others can be constructed as well.

To understand this assertion let us examine the transformation rules given in section 2, but now for general $`\mathrm{}`$ using the full star product. Evidently, the classical transformations get modified by all higher orders in $`\mathrm{}`$. These are the local Sp$`\left(2\right)`$ gauge transformation rules of the $`Q_{ij}`$ in the NCFT where $`\epsilon (X,P)`$ is the local gauge parameter . With these rules we can still map $`Q_{11}=W\left(X\right)`$ as in (25). However, if we proceed in the same manner as in section 2, since the Poisson bracket would be replaced by the star commutator everywhere, we are bound to find higher order $`\mathrm{}`$ corrections in all the expressions. However, consider the star commutator of $`W\left(X\right)`$ with any other quantity $`[W\left(X\right),\mathrm{}]_{}.`$ This is a power series containing only odd powers of $`\mathrm{}.`$ If $`W\left(X\right)`$ is at the most quadratic function of $`X^M,`$ the expression contains only the first power of $`\mathrm{}`$. Hence for quadratic $`W\left(X\right)=X^2`$ or $`W=2\kappa w`$ the star commutator is effectively replaced by the Poisson bracket, and all expressions involving such $`W\left(X\right)`$ produce the same results as the classical analysis.

Similarly, we can argue that, despite the complications of the star product, we can use the remaining gauge freedom to fix $`V_{s2}=0,`$ $`V_0=0,`$ $`G_1=0,`$ and $`V_1^M\left(X\right)`$ linear in $`X^M.`$ Again, with linear $`V_1^M\left(X\right)`$ all of its star commutators are replaced by Poisson brackets.

Then, the classical analysis of the background fields, and their transformation rules, apply intact in the solution of the NCFT field equations (10). The conclusion, again, is that there are two disconnected branches, one for low spins $`s2`$ and one for high spins $`s2,`$ that seem to have an analog in string theory at the extreme tension limits.

The NCFT of  allow more general field configurations in which the higher-spin fields interact with each other and with matter to all orders of $`\mathrm{}`$ and with higher derivatives, consistently with the gauge symmetries. In the full theory, the type of field that appears in (11) can play the role of the “compensators” alluded to in the previous section. This would provide an example of an interacting field theory for higher-spin fields.

## 6 Conclusions and remarks

In this paper it is demonstrated that, in a worldline formalism, all the usual $`d`$ dimensional Yang-Mills, gravitational and scalar interactions experienced by a particle, plus interactions with higher-spin fields, can be embedded in $`d+2`$ dimensional 2Tphysics as a natural solution of the two-time background field equations (49), taken in a fixed Sp$`(2,R)`$ gauge. Since 2Tphysics provides many $`d`$ dimensional holographic images that appear as different 1T dynamics, a new level of higher dimensional unification is achieved by the realization that a family of $`d`$ dimensional dynamical systems (with background fields) are unified as a single $`d+2`$ dimensional theory.

It is also argued that the same perspective is true in field theory provided we use the NCFT approach to 2Tphysics proposed recently in  which, beyond the worldline theory, provides a coupling of all these gauge fields to each other and to matter. In the NCFT counterpart the same picture emerges for a special solution of the NC field equations. Furthermore, the classical solution that determines the phase space configuration of the background fields is also a special exact solution of the NCFT equations to all orders of $`\mathrm{}`$ when, by using gauge freedom, $`W\left(X\right)`$ is chosen as any quadratic function of $`X^M`$ (equivalently, $`V_1^M`$ taken a linear function of $`X^M).`$ In the present paper we gave two illustrations by taking $`W=X^2`$ and $`W=2w\kappa .`$ For non-quadratic forms of $`W\left(X\right)`$ there would be higher powers of $`\mathrm{}`$ in the solutions of the NCFT equations.

By considering the canonical transformations in phase space in the worldline formalism (or the gauge symmetry in NCFT formalism) it is argued that a given solution for a fixed set of background fields can be transformed into new solutions for other sets of background fields. The physical interpretation of this larger set of solutions could be very rich, but it is not investigated in this paper.

The holographic image of the $`(d+2)`$ dimensional theory, in the massless particle gauge, makes connections with other formalisms for higher-spin fields. In particular in one gauge our $`d+2`$ dimensional approach yields the $`d`$ dimensional action discussed in . As it is shown there, the first order action (in phase space) is a completed version of an action originally proposed by de Wit and Freedman  in position-velocity space. The completion consists of including all powers of the velocities that couple to the higher-spin fields, and their effect in the complete form of transformation rules. Some problems pointed out in  can be resolved by three observations: first, there are different branches of solutions, one for the low spin sector, and one for the high spin sector starting with spin 2; second, a worldline theory with the correct unitary high spin fields certainly is permitted as one of the holographic pictures of the $`d+2`$ theory; and third, the stronger canonical gauge symmetries that could lead to non-unitary conformal gravity need not exist in a complete interacting theory.

Our description of higher-spin fields appears to be consistent in the worldline formalism, while the non-commutative field theory approach of  provides a field theoretic action for them, with interactions. In this paper we touched upon this aspect only superficially. This is an old problem  that deserves further careful study. Furthermore, our solution may correspond to a self consistent subsectors of string theory at extreme limits of the tension.

It would also be very interesting to further study the holographic aspects of the 2Tphysics theory.

## 7 Acknowledgments

I.B. would like to thank Edward Witten, Misha Vasiliev and Djordje Minic for discussions. This research was in part supported by the US Department of Energy under grant number DE-FG03-84ER40168, and by the CIT-USC Center of Theoretical Physics.