The Odyssey of Charged Massive Spin-3/2 Fields

by Prof. Karim Benakli (LPTHE, Sorbonne University)

Tuesday 26 May 2026, 14:00 → 15:00 Asia/Shanghai

Tsung-Dao Lee Institute/N4F-N400 - meeting room (Tsung-Dao Lee Institute)

Abstract: 

The relativistic propagation of massive charged higher-spin particles, starting with spin 3/2 and spin 2, has been a longstanding problem, with roots in Dirac’s early work and motivations in 1936. I will briefly review the main obstacles encountered over the decades in attempts to construct consistent theories for such fields. I will then describe recent progress in formulating effective equations of motion in external electromagnetic and gravitational backgrounds, and explain how gravity imposes additional consistency conditions that strongly constrain the allowed couplings. 

Biography: 

Professor Karim Benakli began his research career at École Polytechnique, where he obtained his PhD in 1994. He is a permanent CNRS researcher at Sorbonne University, investigating different aspects of physics beyond the Standard Model. 

Alternative online link: https://meeting.tencent.com/dm/ayfjngrkxwML

ID:184946546