ACTION-PRINCIPLE QUANTIZATION OF THE ANTISYMMETRIC TENSOR FIELD

It is shown that the quantization of the antisymmetric tensor gauge field can readily be effected by straightforward application of the action principle. In particular, the correct number of constraint equations is found for both the massive and massless cases. When a coupling to the Maxwell field is included the two polarization states of the latter are seen to combine with the one degree of freedom of the antisymmetric tensor to yield a massive vector field. © 1979 The American Physical Society.