The de Sitter relativistic top theory

We discuss the relativistic top theory from the point of view of the de Sitter (oranti-de Sitter) group. Our treatment rests on the Hanson-Regge spherical relativistictop Lagrangian formulation. We propose an alternative method for studyingspinning objects via Kaluza-Klein theory. In particular, we derive the relativistictop equations of motion starting with the geodesic equation for a point particle in4+N dimensions. We compare our approach with Fukuyama's formulation of spinningobjects, which is also based on Kaluza-Klein theory. We also report a generalizationof our approach to a 4+N+D dimensional theory.