Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism

15A4 Damiano Anselmi
Background field method and the cohomology of renormalization

November 5, 2015

Using the background field method and the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, we prove a key theorem on the cohomology of perturbatively local functionals of arbitrary ghost numbers, in renormalizable and nonrenormalizable quantum field theories whose gauge symmetries are general covariance, local Lorentz symmetry, non-Abelian Yang-Mills symmetries and Abelian gauge symmetries. Interpolating between the background field approach and the usual, nonbackground approach by means of a canonical transformation, we take advantage of the properties of both approaches and prove that a closed functional is the sum of an exact functional plus a functional that depends only on the physical fields and possibly the ghosts. The assumptions of the theorem are the mathematical versions of general properties that characterize the counterterms and the local contributions to the potential anomalies. This makes the outcome a theorem on the cohomology of renormalization, rather than the whole local cohomology. The result supersedes numerous involved arguments that are available in the literature.

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Phys. Rev. D 93 (2016) 065034 | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.93.065034

arXiv: 1511.01244 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Background field method | Tags: Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Renormalization, Adler-Bardeen theorem, Background field method, Cohomology, General gauge theories

15A3 Damiano Anselmi
Some reference formulas for the generating functions of canonical transformations

November 4, 2015

We study some properties of the canonical transformations in classical mechanics and quantum field theory and give a number of practical formulas concerning their generating functions. First, we give a diagrammatic formula for the perturbative expansion of the composition law around the identity map. Then, we propose a standard way to express the generating function of a canonical transformation by means of a certain “componential” map, which obeys the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula. We derive the diagrammatic interpretation of the componential map, work out its relation with the solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation and derive its time-ordered version. Finally, we generalize the results to the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, where the conjugate variables may have both bosonic and fermionic statistics, and describe applications to quantum field theory.

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Eur. Phys. J. C 76 (2016) 49 | DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-015-3874-y

arXiv: 1511.00828 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers | Tags: Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Canonical transformations

15A2 Damiano Anselmi
Adler-Bardeen theorem and cancellation of gauge anomalies to all orders in nonrenormalizable theories

January 29, 2015

We prove the Adler-Bardeen theorem in a large class of general gauge theories, including nonrenormalizable ones. We assume that the gauge symmetries are general covariance, local Lorentz symmetry and Abelian and non-Abelian Yang-Mills symmetries, and that the local functionals of vanishing ghost numbers satisfy a variant of the Kluberg-Stern–Zuber conjecture. We show that if the gauge anomalies are trivial at one loop, for every truncation of the theory there exists a subtraction scheme where they manifestly vanish to all orders, within the truncation. Outside the truncation the cancellation of gauge anomalies can be enforced by fine-tuning local counterterms. The framework of the proof is worked out by combining a recently formulated chiral dimensional regularization with a gauge invariant higher-derivative regularization. If the higher-derivative regularizing terms are placed well beyond the truncation, and the energy scale $\Lambda $ associated with them is kept fixed, the theory is super-renormalizable and has the property that, once the gauge anomalies are canceled at one loop, they manifestly vanish from two loops onwards by simple power counting. When the $\Lambda $ divergences are subtracted away and $\Lambda $ is sent to infinity, the anomaly cancellation survives in a manifest form within the truncation and in a nonmanifest form outside. The standard model coupled to quantum gravity satisfies all the assumptions, so it is free of gauge anomalies to all orders.

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Phys. Rev. D 91 (2015) 105016 | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.91.105016

arXiv: 1501.07014 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Quantum gravity, Standard model, Adler-Bardeen theorem, Renormalization of general gauge theories | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Standard Model, Renormalization, Nonrenormalizable theories, Adler-Bardeen theorem, Ward identities, Anomalies, Gauge anomalies

15A1 Damiano Anselmi
Ward identities and gauge independence in general chiral gauge theories

January 28, 2015

Using the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, we study the Ward identities and the equations of gauge dependence in potentially anomalous general gauge theories, renormalizable or not. A crucial new term, absent in manifestly nonanomalous theories, is responsible for interesting effects. We prove that gauge invariance always implies gauge independence, which in turn ensures perturbative unitarity. Precisely, we consider potentially anomalous theories that are actually free of gauge anomalies thanks to the Adler-Bardeen theorem. We show that when we make a canonical transformation on the tree-level action, it is always possible to re-renormalize the divergences and re-fine-tune the finite local counterterms, so that the renormalized $\Gamma $ functional of the transformed theory is also free of gauge anomalies, and is related to the renormalized $\Gamma $ functional of the starting theory by a canonical transformation. An unexpected consequence of our results is that the beta functions of the couplings may depend on the gauge-fixing parameters, although the physical quantities remain gauge independent. We discuss nontrivial checks of high-order calculations based on gauge independence and determine how powerful they are.

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Phys. Rev. D 92 (2015) 025027 | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.92.025027

arXiv: 1501.06692 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Adler-Bardeen theorem, Renormalization of general gauge theories, Field redefinitions, Dimensional regularization | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Dimensional regularization, Nonrenormalizable theories, Adler-Bardeen theorem, Ward identities, Chiral dimensional regularization, Anomalies, Gauge anomalies

14A2 D. Anselmi
Weighted power counting and chiral dimensional regularization

May 14, 2014

We define a modified dimensional-regularization technique that overcomes several difficulties of the ordinary technique, and is specially designed to work efficiently in chiral and parity violating quantum field theories, in arbitrary dimensions greater than 2. When the dimension of spacetime is continued to complex values, spinors, vectors and tensors keep the components they have in the physical dimension, therefore the $\gamma $ matrices are the standard ones. Propagators are regularized with the help of evanescent higher-derivative kinetic terms, which are of the Majorana type in the case of chiral fermions. If the new terms are organized in a clever way, weighted power counting provides an efficient control on the renormalization of the theory, and allows us to show that the resulting chiral dimensional regularization is consistent to all orders. The new technique considerably simplifies the proofs of properties that hold to all orders, and makes them suitable to be generalized to wider classes of models. Typical examples are the renormalizability of chiral gauge theories and the Adler-Bardeen theorem. The difficulty of explicit computations, on the other hand, may increase.

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Phys. Rev. D 89 (2014) 125024 | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.89.125024

arXiv: 1405.3110 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Adler-Bardeen theorem, Renormalization of general gauge theories, Lorentz violating quantum field theory, Regularization, Dimensional regularization | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Dimensional regularization, Quantum field theory, Renormalization, Regularization, Adler-Bardeen theorem

14A1 D. Anselmi
Adler-Bardeen theorem and manifest anomaly cancellation to all orders in gauge theories

February 27, 2014

We reconsider the Adler-Bardeen theorem for the cancellation of gauge anomalies to all orders, when they vanish at one loop. Using the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism and combining the dimensional-regularization technique with the higher-derivative gauge invariant regularization, we prove the theorem in the most general perturbatively unitary renormalizable gauge theories coupled to matter in four dimensions, and identify the subtraction scheme where anomaly cancellation to all orders is manifest, namely no subtractions of finite local counterterms are required from two loops onwards. Our approach is based on an order-by-order analysis of renormalization, and, differently from most derivations existing in the literature, does not make use of arguments based on the properties of the renormalization group. As a consequence, the proof we give also applies to conformal field theories and finite theories.

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Eur. Phys. J. C 74 (2014) 3083 | DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-3083-0

arXiv: 1402.6453 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Adler-Bardeen theorem, Renormalization of general gauge theories, Regularization, Dimensional regularization | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Dimensional regularization, Quantum field theory, Renormalization, Regularization, Adler-Bardeen theorem

13A3 D. Anselmi
Background field method, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism and parametric completeness of renormalization

November 13, 2013

We investigate the background field method with the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, to generalize known results, study parametric completeness and achieve a better understanding of several properties. In particular, we study renormalization and gauge dependence to all orders. Switching between the background field approach and the usual approach by means of canonical transformations, we prove parametric completeness without making use of cohomological theorems, namely show that if the starting classical action is sufficiently general all divergences can be subtracted by means of parameter redefinitions and canonical transformations. Our approach applies to renormalizable and non-renormalizable theories that are manifestly free of gauge anomalies and satisfy the following assumptions: the gauge algebra is irreducible and closes off shell, the gauge transformations are linear functions of the fields, and closure is field-independent. Yang-Mills theories and quantum gravity in arbitrary dimensions are included, as well as effective and higher-derivative versions of them, but several other theories, such as supergravity, are left out.

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Phys. Rev. D 89 (2014) 045004 | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.89.045004

arXiv: 1311.2704 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Background field method, Renormalization of general gauge theories | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Quantum field theory, Renormalization, Nonrenormalizable theories

13T1 Theorem
Replacing fields with the solutions of their field equations preserves the master equation

May 18, 2013

Let $S(\Phi,U,K,K_{U})$ denote the solution of the master equation $(S,S)=0$, where $\{\Phi ^{A},U\}$ are the fields and $\{K_{A},K_{U}\}$ are the sources coupled to the $\Phi ^{A}$- and $U$-gauge transformations. If we replace $U$ with the solution $U^{*}(\Phi ,K,K_{U})$ of the $U$-field equations
\begin{equation}
\frac{\delta _{r}S}{\delta U}=0,
\end{equation}
then the action
\begin{equation}
S^{*}(\Phi ,K,K_{U})=S(\Phi ,U^{*}(\Phi ,K,K_{U}),K,K_{U})
\end{equation}
satisfies the master equation $(S^{*},S^{*})=0$ in the reduced set of fields and sources $\Phi,K$.

Read the proof →

Posted in Theorems, Field redefinitions | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Master equation

13A1 D. Anselmi
Renormalization of gauge theories without cohomology

January 31, 2013

We investigate the renormalization of gauge theories without assuming cohomological properties. We define a renormalization algorithm that preserves the Batalin-Vilkovisky master equation at each step and automatically extends the classical action till it contains sufficiently many independent parameters to reabsorb all divergences into parameter-redefinitions and canonical transformations. The construction is then generalized to the master functional and the field-covariant proper formalism for gauge theories. Our results hold in all manifestly anomaly-free gauge theories, power-counting renormalizable or not. The extension algorithm allows us to solve a quadratic problem, such as finding a sufficiently general solution of the master equation, even when it is not possible to reduce it to a linear (cohomological) problem.

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Eur. Phys. J. C 73 (2013) 2508 | DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-013-2508-5

arXiv:1301.7577 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Renormalization of general gauge theories | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Generating functionals, Quantum field theory, Renormalization, Field-covariance, Renormalization-group invariance

12A3 D. Anselmi
Master functional and proper formalism for quantum gauge field theory

May 18, 2012

We develop a general field-covariant approach to quantum gauge theories. Extending the usual set of integrated fields and external sources to “proper” fields and sources, which include partners of the composite fields, we define the master functional $\Omega$, which collects one-particle irreducible diagrams and upgrades the usual $\Gamma$-functional in several respects. The functional $\Omega$ is determined from its classical limit applying the usual diagrammatic rules to the proper fields. Moreover, it behaves as a scalar under the most general perturbative field redefinitions, which can be expressed as linear transformations of the proper fields. We extend the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism and the master equation. The master functional satisfies the extended master equation and behaves as a scalar under canonical transformations. The most general perturbative field redefinitions and changes of gauge-fixing can be encoded in proper canonical transformations, which are linear and do not mix integrated fields and external sources. Therefore, they can be applied as true changes of variables in the functional integral, instead of mere replacements of integrands. This property overcomes a major difficulty of the functional $\Gamma$. Finally, the new approach allows us to prove the renormalizability of gauge theories in a general field-covariant setting. We generalize known cohomological theorems to the master functional and show that when there are no gauge anomalies all divergences can be subtracted by means of parameter redefinitions and proper canonical transformations.

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Eur. Phys. J. C 73 (2013) 2363 | DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-013-2363-4

arXiv:1205.3862 [hep-th]

Posted in Papers, Field-covariant quantum field theory | Tags: Gauge theories, Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, Dimensional regularization, Functional integral, Generating functionals, Quantum field theory, Renormalization, Field-covariance

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