Formal higher-spin theories and Kontsevich-Shoikhet-Tsygan formality

The formal algebraic structures that govern higher-spin theories within the unfolded approach turn out to be related to an extension of the Kontsevich formality, namely, the Shoikhet-Tsygan formality. Effectively, this allows one to construct the Hochschild cocycles of higher-spin algebras that make the interaction vertices. As an application of these results we construct a family of Vasiliev-like equations that generate the Hochschild cocycles with sp(2n) symmetry from the corresponding cycles. A particular case of sp(4) may be relevant for the on-shell action of the 4d theory. We also give the exact equations that describe propagation of higher-spin fields on a higher-spin flat background. The consistency of formal higher-spin theories turns out to have a purely geometric interpretation: there exists a certain symplectic invariant associated to cutting a polytope into simplices, namely, the Alexander-Spanier cocycle.