Unitarity Bounds in AdS_3 Higher Spin Gravity

Abstract: We study SL(N,R) Chern-Simons gauge theories in three dimensions. The choice of the embedding of SL(2,R) in SL(N,R), together with asymptotic boundary conditions, defines a theory of higher spin gravity. Each inequivalent embedding leads to a different asymptotic symmetry group, which we map to an OPE structure at the boundary. A simple inspection of these algebras indicates that only the W_N algebra constructed using the principal embedding could admit a unitary representation for large values of the central charge.