Published March 13, 2000 | Version v1
Journal article

Duality-invariant quantum field theories of charges and monopoles

Description

We present a manifestly Lorentz- and SO(2)-duality-invariant local Quantum Field Theory of electric charges, Dirac magnetic monopoles and dyons. The manifest invariances are achieved by means of the PST mechanism. The dynamics for classical point particles is described by an action functional living on a circle, if the Dirac-Schwinger quantization condition for electric and magnetic charges holds. The inconsistent classical Field Theory depends on an arbitrary, but fixed, external vector field, a generalization of the Dirac string. Nevertheless, the Quantum Field Theory, obtained from this classical action via a functional integral approach, turns out to be independent of the particular vector field chosen, and thus consistent, if the Dirac-Schwinger quantization condition holds. We provide explicit expressions for the generating functionals of observables, proving that they are Dirac-string independent. Since Lorentz invariance is manifest at each step, the quantum theory admits also a manifestly diffeomorphism invariant coupling to external gravity. Relations with previous formulations and with SO(2)-non-invariant theories are clarified

Additional details

Identifiers

PII
S0550321399007117;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Nuclear Physics. B
Journal Volume
569
Journal Issue
1-3
Journal Page Range
p. 529-576
ISSN
0550-3213
CODEN
NUPBBO

INIS

Country of Publication
Netherlands
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
35025521
Subject category
S72: PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS;
Descriptors DEI
ACTION INTEGRAL; DUALITY; INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES; LORENTZ INVARIANCE; MONOPOLES; QUANTIZATION; QUANTUM FIELD THEORY; SO-2 GROUPS
Descriptors DEC
FIELD THEORIES; INTEGRALS; INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES; LIE GROUPS; SO GROUPS; SYMMETRY GROUPS

Optional Information

Copyright
Copyright (c) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.