Faddeev-Popov Ghost and BRST Symmetry in Yang-Mills Theory

Ghost fields arise from the quantization of the gauge field with constraints (gauge fixing) through the path integral method. By substituting a form of identity, an effective propagator will be obtained from the gauge field with constraints and this is called the Faddeev-Popov method. The Grassmann odd properties of the ghost field cause the gauge transformation parameter to be Grassmann odd, so a BRST transformation is defined. Ghost field emergence with Grassmann odd properties can also be obtained through the least action principle with gauge transformation, and thus the relations between the BRST transformation parameters and the ghost field is obtained.

Generalized ghost dark energy in Brans–Dicke theory

It was argued that the vacuum energy of the Veneziano ghost field of QCD, in a time-dependent background, can be written in the general form, H + O(H2), where H is the Hubble parameter. Based on this, a phenomenological dark energy model whose energy density is of the form ρ = αH + βH2 was recently proposed to explain the dark energy dominated universe. In this paper, we investigate this generalized ghost dark energy model in the setup of Brans–Dicke cosmology. We study the cosmological implications of this model. In particular, we obtain the equation of state, the deceleration parameters, and a differential equation governing the evolution of this dark energy model. It is shown that the equation of state parameter of the generalized ghost dark energy can cross the phantom line (wD = −1) in some range of the parameters spaces.

NONTRIVIAL GHOSTS AND SECOND-CLASS CONSTRAINTS

In a model in which a vector gauge field [Formula: see text] is coupled to an antisymmetric tensor field [Formula: see text] possessing a pseudoscalar mass, it has been shown that all physical degrees of freedom reside in the vector field. Upon quantizing this model using the Faddeev–Popov procedure, explicit calculation of the two-point functions 〈ϕϕ〉 and 〈Wϕ〉 at one-loop order seems to have yielded the puzzling result that the effective action generated by radiative effects has more physical degrees of freedom than the original classical action. In this paper we point out that this is not in fact a real effect, but rather appears to be a consequence of having ignored a "ghost" field arising from the contribution to the measure in the path integral arising from the presence of nontrivial second-class constraints. These ghost fields couple to the fields [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], which makes them distinct from other models involving ghosts arising from second-class constraints (such as massive Yang–Mills (YM) models) that have been considered, as in these other models such ghosts decouple. As an alternative to dealing with second-class constraints, we consider introducing a "Stueckelberg field" to eliminate second-class constraints in favor of first-class constraints and examine if it is possible to then use the Faddeev–Popov quantization procedure. In the Proca model, introduction of the Stueckelberg vector is equivalent to the Batalin–Fradkin–Tyutin (BFT) approach to converting second-class constraints to being first-class through the introduction of new variables. However, introduction of a Stueckelberg vector is not equivalent to the BFT approach for the vector–tensor model. In an appendix, the BFT procedure is applied to the pure tensor model and a novel gauge invariance is found. In addition, we also consider extending the Hamiltonian so that half of the second-class constraints become first-class and the other half become associated gauge conditions. We also find for this tensor-vector theory that when converting the phase space path integral to the configuration space path integral, a nontrivial contribution to the measure arises that is not manifestly covariant and which is not simply due to the presence of second-class constraints.

A PEDAGOGICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE SLAVNOV FORMULATION OF QUANTUM YANG–MILLS THEORY

Over the last few years, Slavnov has proposed a formulation of quantum Yang–Mills theory in the Coulomb gauge which preserves simultaneously manifest Lorentz invariance and gauge invariance of the ghost field Lagrangian. This paper presents in detail some of the necessary calculations, i.e. those dealing with the functional integral for the S-matrix and its invariance under shifted gauge transformations. The extension of this formalism to quantum gravity in the Prentki gauge deserves consideration.

PERTURBATIVE EXPANSION FOR THE t-J MODEL CONSTRUCTED FROM THE GENERATORS OF THE SUPERSYMMETRIC HUBBARD ALGEBRA

By using the Hubbard [Formula: see text]-operators as field variables along with the supersymmetric version of the Faddeev–Jackiw symplectic formalism, a family of first-order constrained Lagrangians for the t-J model is found. In order to satisfy the Hubbard [Formula: see text]-operator commutation rules satisfying the graded algebra spl(2,1), the number and kind of constraints that must be included in a classical first-order Lagrangian formalism for this model are presented. The model is also analyzed via path-integral formalism, where the correlation-generating functional and the effective Lagrangian are constructed. In this context, the introduction of a proper ghost field is needed to render the model renormalizable. The perturbative Lagrangian formalism is developed and it is shown how propagators and vertices can be renormalized to each order. In particular, the renormalized ferromagnetic magnon propagator arising in the present formalism is discussed. As an example, the thermal softening of the magnon frequency is computed.

THE ROLE OF THE GHOST FIELDS IN THE RENORMALIZED t–J LAGRANGIAN MODEL

The present work treats the role of ghost fields in the renormalization procedure of the Lagrangian perturbative formalism of the t–J model. We show that by introducing proper ghost field variables, the propagators and vertices can be renormalized to each order. In particular, the renormalized ferromagnetic magnon propagator coming from our previous Lagrangian formalism is studied in detail, and it is shown how the thermal softening of the magnon frequency is predicted by the model. The antiferromagnetic case is also analyzed, and the results are confronted with the previous one obtained by means of the spin-polaron theories.