The Gauss Law: A Tale

A. P. Balachandran; A. F. Reyes-Lega

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-24748-5_4

paper

The Gauss Law: A Tale

arXiv:1807.05161 · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-24748-5_4

Abstract

The Gauss law plays a basic role in gauge theories, enforcing gauge invariance and creating edge states and superselection sectors. This article surveys these aspects of the Gauss law in QED, QCD and nonlinear $G / H$ models. It is argued that nonabelian superselection rules are spontaneously broken. That is the case with $S U (3)$ of colour which is spontaneously broken to $U (1) \times U (1)$ . Nonlinear $G / H$ models are reformulated as gauge theories and the existence of edge states and superselection sectors in these models is also established.

Published version. References added