  Scale invariant theories which contain maximal rank gauge field strengths (of
$D$ indices in $D$ dimensions) are studied. The integration of the equations of
motion of these gauge fields leads to the s.s.b. of scale invariance. The cases
in study are: i) the spontaneous generation of $r^{-1}$ potentials in particle
mechanics in a theory that contains only $r^{-2}$ potentials in the scale
invariant phase, ii) mass generation in scalar field theories iii) generation
of non trivial dilaton potentials in generally covariant theories, iv)
spontaneous generation of confining behavior in gauge theories. The possible
origin of these models is discussed.
