Colourful Poincaré symmetry, gravity and particle actions

Abstract We construct a generalisation of the three-dimensional Poincaré algebra that also includes a colour symmetry factor. This algebra can be used to define coloured Poincaré gravity in three space-time dimensions as well as to study generalisations of massive and massless free particle models. We present various such generalised particle models that differ in which orbits of the coloured Poincaré symmetry are described. Our approach can be seen as a stepping stone towards the description of particles interacting with a non-abelian background field or as a starting point for a worldline formulation of an associated quantum field theory