Noether's theorem and Ward-Takahashi identities from homotopy algebras

Abstract

We derive the new identity in homotopy algebras which directly corresponds to the Schwinger-Dyson equations in quantum field theory. As an application, we derive the Ward-Takahashi identities. We demonstrate that the Ward-Takahashi identities are reproduced in several examples. In general, our formula contains divergence. We mediate this problem by introducing stubs known in the context of string field theory. With the regularization, we can calculate the anomaly such as axial U(1) anomaly in vector-like U(1) gauge theory.

55 pages, no figures; v2 minor changes; v3 reference added, version published in JHEP