Zero modes of first class secondary constraints in gauge theories

Zero modes of first class secondary constraints in the two-dimensional electrodynamics and the four-dimensional SU(2) Yang-Mills theory are considered by the method of reduced phase space quantization in the context of the problem of a stable vacuum. We compare the description of these modes in the Dirac extended method and reveal their connection with the topological structure of the gauge symmetry group. Within the framework of the 'reduced' quantization we construct a new global realization of the homotopy group representation in the Yang-Mills theory, where the role of the stable vacuum with a finite action plays the Prasad-Sommerfeld solution. (author.). 19 refs