Proof of Consistency of Nonlinear Massive Gravity in the Stuckelberg Formulation

Understand

We address some recent concerns about the absence of the Boulware-Deser ghost in the Stuckelberg formulation of nonlinear massive gravity.

• First we provide general arguments for why any ghost analysis in the Stuckelberg formulation has to agree with existing consistency proofs that have been carried out without using Stuckelberg fields.
• We then demonstrate the absence of the ghost at the completely nonlinear level in the Stuckelberg formulation of the minimal massive gravity action.
• The constraint that removes the ghost field and the associated secondary constraint that eliminates its conjugate momentum are computed explicitly, confirming the consistency of the theory in the Stuckelberg formulation.