N ov 1 99 5 Generalised Hamiltonian embedding of the Proca model

We convert the second class Proca model into a first class theory by using the generalised prescription of Batalin, Fradkin and Tyutin. We then show how a basic set of gauge invariant fields in the embedded model can be identified with the fundamental fields in the proca model as well as with the observables in the Stückelberg model or in the model involving the interaction of an abelian 2-form field with the Maxwell field. The connection of these models with the massive Kalb-Ramond model is also elucidated within a path integral approach.