An example of a consistent theory with massive higher spin fields is constructed in flat space-time of dimension three. The action is written in the light-cone gauge. The theory has certain stringlike features, e.g., its spectrum is unbounded in spin and mass; the theory admits Chan-Paton factors. The quartic and the higher tree-level amplitudes vanish, which softens the UV behavior at the loop level and provides a new mechanism of how massive higher spin states can resolve the quantum gravity problem.

• Received 8 October 2020
• Accepted 13 November 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.126010

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Published by the American Physical Society