The Weinberg-Witten Theorem, proved by Steven Weinberg and Edward Witten, is a result of relativistic quantum field theory stating that massless particles of spin greater than one half cannot carry a Lorentz-covariant current, and massless particles of spin greater than one cannot carry a Lorentz-covariant stress-energy tensor, whether the particle is elementary or composite. Because the graviton has spin two, the theorem is usually interpreted as ruling out any composite graviton arising within an ordinary relativistic quantum field theory.
Facts
StatementMassless particles, whether composite or elementary, with spin greater than one half cannot carry a Lorentz-covariant current, and massless particles with spin greater than one cannot carry a Lorentz-covariant stress-energy tensor. 1 Classification
Statement Form Connections
Has Statement Form
Entity-backed identity for the statement-form enum value this theorem already carries, resolved to a mathematics concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The statement-form fact itself stays on the theorem unchanged.
Sources
1. Weinberg-Witten theorem, Wikipedia
Lead section
massless particles (either composite or elementary) with spin j > 1/2 cannot carry a Lorentz-covariant current, while massless particles with spin j > 1 cannot carry a Lorentz-covariant stress-energy
References section
Weinberg, Steven; Witten, Edward (1980). Limits on massless particles. Physics Letters B.
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