Gauge transformation properties of vector and tensor potentials revisited:A group quantization approach

The possibility of nontrivial representations of the gauge group on wave fu nctionals of a gauge invariant quantum field theory leads to a generation o f mass for intermediate vector and tensor bosons. The mass parameters m sho w up as central charges in the algebra of constraints, which then become of second-class nature. The gauge group coordinates acquire dynamics outside the null-mass shell and provide the longitudinal field degrees of freedom t hat massless bosons need to form massive bosons. This is a non-Higgs mechan ism that could provide new clues for the best understanding of the symmetry breaking mechanism in unified field theories. A unified quantization of ma ssless and massive non-Abelian Yang-Mills, linear gravity and Abelian two-f orm gauge field theories are fully developed from this new approach, where a cohomological origin of mass is pointed out.