# The antisymmetric tensor propagator in 𝐴⁢𝑑⁢𝑆

## I Introduction

In , a lot of effort was put into finding the $`AdS`$ propagators for the graviton and the gauge boson. Their methods can be used straightforwardly for the $`B_{\mu \nu }`$ propagators. An ansatz can be made for bitensor propagators . This ansatz contains both gauge artifacts and gauge invariant parts. Upon using the equation of motion for $`B_{\mu \nu }`$ we obtain an equation for the gauge invariant part of the propagator, whose solution is hypergeometric. For d=5 it simplifies to an algebraic function of the chordal distance. As explained in , working on the subspace of conserved sources makes gauge fixing unnecessary. We check our result by verifying the 5-dimensional Poincaré duality between $`A_\mu `$ and $`B_{\mu \nu }`$.

## II The $`B_{\mu \nu }`$ propagator

In Euclidean $`AdS_{d+1}`$, with the metric

$$ds^2=\frac{1}{z_0^2}(dz_0^2+\mathrm{\Sigma }_{i=1}^ddz_i^2),$$
$`(1)`$   
the easiest way to express invariant functions and tensors is in terms of the chordal distance:

$$u\frac{(z_0w_0)^2+(z_iw_i)^2}{2z_0w_0}.$$
$`(2)`$   
The action for an antisymmetric 2-tensor coupled to a conserved source $`S_{\mu \nu }`$ is:

$$S_B=d^{d+1}z\sqrt{g}[\frac{1}{23!}H^{\mu \nu \rho }H_{\mu \nu \rho }\frac{1}{2}B_{\mu \nu }S^{\mu \nu }],$$
$`(3)`$   
where

$$H_{\mu \nu \rho }=D_\mu B_{\nu \rho }+D_\nu B_{\rho \mu }+D_\rho B_{\mu \nu }.$$
$`(4)`$   
The Euler Lagrange equation has a solution of the form:

$$B_{\mu \nu }(z)=\frac{1}{2}d^{d+1}w\sqrt{g}G_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}(z,w)S^{\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}(w),$$
$`(5)`$   
where $`G_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}`$ is the bitensor propagator. To simplify notation, the $`D`$’s with unprimed indices mean covariant derivatives with respect to $`z`$, and those with primed indices with respect to $`w`$. The equation $`G_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}`$ satisfies is:

$$D^\rho (D_\mu G_{\nu \rho ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}+D_\nu G_{\rho \mu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}+D_\rho G_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}})=\delta (z,w)(g_{\mu \mu ^{}}g_{\nu \nu ^{}}g_{\mu \nu ^{}}g_{\nu \mu ^{}})+$$

$$+D_\mu ^{}\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mu \nu ;\nu ^{}}D_\nu ^{}\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}},$$
$`(6)`$   
where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mu \nu ;\nu ^{}}`$ is a diffeomorphism whose contribution vanishes when integrated against the covariantly conserved source $`S^{\mu \nu }`$. We can see that all of our bitensors are antisymmetric at both points.

Similarly to the methods in  we observe that a suitable basis for antisymmetric bitensors is given by:

$$T_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}^1=_\mu _\mu ^{}u_\nu _\nu ^{}u_\mu _\nu ^{}u_\nu _\mu ^{}u$$
$`(7)`$   
$$T_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}^2=_\mu _\mu ^{}u_\nu u_\nu ^{}u_\mu _\nu ^{}u_\nu u_\mu ^{}u_\nu _\mu ^{}u_\mu u_\nu ^{}u+_\nu _\nu ^{}u_\mu u_\mu ^{}u.$$

Thus, an ansatz for $`G`$ is $`G=T^1F^1(u)+T^2F^2(u)`$. Nonetheless, we use a different decomposition, which illustrates better the gauge artifacts

$$G_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}=T_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}^1H(u)+D_\mu V_{\nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}D_\nu V_{\mu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}},$$
$`(8)`$   
where $`V_{\mu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}=Y(u)[_\mu _\mu ^{}u_\nu ^{}u_\mu _\nu ^{}u_\mu ^{}u]`$. Also, an antisymmetric $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mu \nu ;\nu ^{}}`$ can be expressed as

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mu \nu ;\nu ^{}}=A(u)[_\nu _\nu ^{}u_\mu u_\mu _\nu ^{}u_\nu u].$$
$`(10)`$   
We can now substitute (8) and (10) in (6), and after a long computation we obtain

$$D^\rho (D_\mu G_{\nu \rho ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}+D_\nu G_{\rho \mu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}+D_\rho G_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}})D_\mu ^{}\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mu \nu ;\nu ^{}}+D_\nu ^{}\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}}=$$

$$=T^1[H^{\prime \prime }u(u+2)+H^{}(1+u)(d1)2A]T^2[H^{\prime \prime }(1+u)+H^{}(d1)+A^{}].$$
$`(11)`$   
For $`zw`$, we obtain 2 equations by setting the scalar coefficients of the two tensors to 0. We can observe that the $`V_{\mu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}`$ part which was a gauge artifact dropped out as expected. Thus, for $`u0`$ we have the equations:

$$H^{\prime \prime }u(u+2)+H^{}(1+u)(d1)2A=0$$
$`(12a)`$   
$$H^{\prime \prime }(1+u)+H^{}(d1)+A^{}=0.$$
$`(12b)`$   
The second equation can be integrated once, with the integration constant chosen so that $`A`$ and $`H`$ vanish as $`u\mathrm{}`$. Combining this with (12a) we find the differential equation obeyed by $`H`$:

$$u(2+u)H^{\prime \prime }(u)+(d+1)(u+1)H^{}(u)+2(d2)H=0.$$
$`(13)`$   
This equation is hypergeometric, but the solution which vanishes as $`u\mathrm{}`$ is rational:

$$H(u)=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }((d1)/2)}{4\pi ^{(d+1)/2}}\frac{u+1}{[u(u+2)]^{(d1)/2}},$$
$`(14)`$   
properly normalized to take care of the $`\delta `$ function in (6).

## III Poincaré duality

In 5 dimensions a 2-form is Poincaré dual with a gauge boson, by the relation:

$$H_{\mu \nu \rho }ϵ^{\mu \nu \rho \sigma \lambda }=3!F^{\sigma \lambda }$$
$`(15)`$   
Therefore, we expect:

$$F^{\sigma \lambda }(z)F^{\sigma ^{}\lambda ^{}}(w)=\frac{1}{(3!)^2}ϵ^{\mu \nu \rho \sigma \lambda }ϵ^{\mu ^{}\nu ^{}\rho ^{}\sigma ^{}\lambda ^{}}H_{\mu \nu \rho }(z)H_{\mu ^{}\nu ^{}\rho ^{}}(w).$$
$`(16)`$   
Checking (16) is a verification that our result is true. We use the fact that

$$B_{\mu \nu }B_{\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}=G_{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}$$
$`(17)`$   
and

$$A_\mu A_\mu ^{}=G_{\mu ;\mu ^{}},$$
$`(18)`$   
where the second propagator was found in . We could check the tensor equality (16) term by term, but it is messy. We rather observe that the right hand side of (16) is a bitensor antisymmetric at both ends, and thus it will have the structure

$$ϵ^{\mu \nu \rho \sigma \lambda }ϵ^{\mu ^{}\nu ^{}\rho ^{}\sigma ^{}\lambda ^{}}H_{\mu \nu \rho }(z)H_{\mu ^{}\nu ^{}\rho ^{}}(w)=F_1(u)T_1^{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}+F_2(u)T_2^{\mu \nu ;\mu ^{}\nu ^{}}.$$
$`(19)`$   
Concentrating on the components of $`F^{z_0z_i}(z)F^{z_0^{}z_j^{}}(w)`$ we obtain:

$$2F_1+F_2(1+u)=H^{\prime \prime },$$
$`(20a)`$   
$$F_2(1+u)^2+F_2+2F_1(1+u)=2H^{\prime \prime }(1+u)+3H^{},$$
$`(20b)`$   
which give the same $`F_1`$ and $`F_2`$ as the ones obtained from the gauge propagator derived in .

## IV Conclusion

We computed the propagator for $`B_{\mu \nu }`$ in $`AdS_{d+1}`$ and checked our result by using Poincaré duality for $`d=4`$. This propagator can be used for computing various quantities having to do with $`B_{\mu \nu }`$ charged objects (like strings or D-branes with electric flux) in $`AdS`$. The propagators for higher form fields can also be found by using Poincaré duality  or by explicit calculation .

Acknowledgements: I’d like to acknowledge useful conversations with Joe Polchinski, Gary Horowitz and Veronika Hubeny. This work was supported in part by NSF grant PHY97-22022.

## A Several useful identities involving the chordal distance

In the computations the following identities were useful:

$$_\mu _\nu ^{}u=\frac{1}{z_0w_0}[\delta _{\mu \nu ^{}}+\frac{(zw)_\mu \delta _{\nu ^{}0}}{w_0}+\frac{(wz)_\nu ^{}\delta _{\mu 0}}{z_0}u\delta _{\mu 0}\delta _{\nu ^{}0}]$$
$`(A1)`$   
$$_\mu u=\frac{1}{z_0}[(zw)_\mu /w_0u\delta _{\mu 0}]$$
$`(A2)`$   
$$_\nu ^{}u=\frac{1}{w_0}[(wz)_\nu ^{}/z_0u\delta _{\nu ^{}0}]$$
$`(A3)`$   
$$D^\mu _\mu u=(d+1)(u+1)$$
$`(A4)`$   
$$^\mu u_\mu u=u(u+2)$$
$`(A5)`$   
$$D_\mu _\nu u=g_{\mu \nu }(u+1)$$
$`(A6)`$   
$$(^\mu u)(D_\mu _\nu _\nu ^{}u)=_\nu u_\nu ^{}u$$
$`(A7)`$   
$$(^\mu u)(_\mu _\nu ^{})u=(u+1)_\nu ^{}u$$
$`(A8)`$   
$$D_\mu _\nu _\nu ^{}u=g_{\mu \nu }_\nu ^{}u$$
$`(A9)`$