The relationship between the gauged BRST symmetry and the ghost number symmetry

A general method of gauging the BRST algebra by combining a (local) ghost number symmetry with the standard (global) BRST algebra, is displayed. This method enables us to construct an automatically nilpotent local BRST algebra and to obtain in a straightforward way the corresponding versions of the action and the eventual anomalies. To illustrate the procedure we study the Yang-Mills and the free bosonic string theories (including the 'conformal' Beltrami parametrization) and show that it reproduces the results discussed in the literature. Two major outcomes of this scheme are briefly discussed: A possible connection between ghost number and BRST currents, arising from the Slavnov identities and the implications of the ghost number anomaly for the BRST localization program in theories such as string theory. (orig.)