Lagrangian formulation for arbitrary spin. I. The boson case

An explicit form is obtained for the Lagrangian of an arbitrary-spin boson field. This is achieved by introducing auxiliary field variables which are required to vanish in the free-field limit. For s4 the results are found to be in agreement with those obtained by Chang. Canonical commutation rules are derived and the equations of motion are brought to first-order form, thereby facilitating the introduction of minimal electromagnetic coupling. It is found that, upon taking the Galilean limit, the (6s+1) -component Galilean-invariant theory of Hagen and Hurley results. The g factor is found to be 1s, thereby confirming a long-standing conjecture.