Abstract
It was recently shown that the CFT dual of string theory on AdS3 × S3 × T 4, the symmetric orbifold of T 4, contains a closed higher spin subsector. Via holography, this makes precise the sense in which tensionless string theory on this background contains a Vasiliev higher spin theory. In this paper we study this phenomenon directly from the worldsheet. Using the WZW description of the background with pure NS-NS flux, we identify the states that make up the leading Regge trajectory and show that they fit into the even spin \( \mathcal{N}=4 \) Vasiliev higher spin theory. We also show that these higher spin states do not become massless, except for the somewhat singular case of level k = 1 where the theory contains a stringy tower of massless higher spin fields coming from the long string sector.
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ArXiv ePrint: 1704.08667
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Ferreira, K., Gaberdiel, M.R. & Jottar, J.I. Higher spins on AdS3 from the worldsheet. J. High Energ. Phys. 2017, 131 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2017)131
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2017)131