Cohomological aspects of gauge theories: superfield formalism

Abstract

Some of the key cohomological features of the two $(1+1)$-dimensional (2D) free Abelian- and self-interacting non-Abelian gauge theories (having no interaction with matter fields) are briefly discussed first in the language of symmetry properties of the Lagrangian densities and the same issues are subsequently addressed in the framework of superfield formulation on the four ($2+2)$-dimensional supermanifold. Special emphasis is laid on the on-shell- and off-shell nilpotent (co-)BRST symmetries that emerge after the application of (dual) horizontality conditions on the supermanifold. The (anti-)chiral superfields play a very decisive role in the derivation of the on-shell nilpotent symmetries. The study of the present superfield formulation leads to the derivation of some new symmetries for the Lagrangian density and the symmetric energy-momentum tensor. The topological nature of the above theories is captured in the framework of superfield formulation and the geometrical interpretations are provided for some of the topologically interesting quantities.

LaTeX, 38 pages, version to appear in Annals of Physics

References in corpus (7)

• New topological field theories in two dimensions
• Abelian 2-form gauge theory: special features
• New symmetries for Abelian gauge theory in superfield formulation
• Superfield approach to BRST cohomology
• Superfield approach to a novel symmetry for non-Abelian gauge theory
• Topological aspects of Abelian gauge theory in superfield formulation
• Superfield approach to topological features of non-Abelian gauge theory

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• Gauge Transformations, BRST Cohomology and Wigner's Little Group
• Augmented Superfield Approach To Exact Nilpotent Symmetries For Matter Fields In Non-Abelian Theory
• Geometrical Aspects Of BRST Cohomology In Augmented Superfield Formalism
• Nilpotent Symmetries For Matter Fields In Non-Abelian Gauge Theory: Augmented Superfield Formalism
• Absolutely anticommuting (anti-)BRST symmetry transformations for topologically massive Abelian gauge theory
• Superfield Approach to (Non-)local Symmetries for One-Form Abelian Gauge Theory
• Hodge Duality Operation And Its Physical Applications On Supermanifolds
• Free Abelian 2-Form Gauge Theory: BRST Approach
• Wigner's little group and BRST cohomology for one-form Abelian gauge theory
• Nilpotent symmetry invariance in the superfield formulation: the (non-)Abelian 1-form gauge theories