2002/09/30 by R. P. Malik, R P Malik · 3 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Homotopy and Cohomology in Algebraic Topology #Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0305-4470/36/18/314
published as J.Phys.A36:5095-5114,2003 · LaTeX, 23 pages, journal ref. given
openalex publication_date 2003/04/24 · arxiv created 2003/04/26 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
It is shown that the four (3 + 1)-dimensional (4D) free Abelian 2-form gauge theory provides an example of (i) a class of field theoretical models for the Hodge theory, and (ii) a possible candidate for the quasi-topological field theory (q-TFT). Despite many striking similarities with some of the key topological features of the two (1 + 1)-dimensional (2D) free Abelian (and self-interacting non-Abelian) gauge theories, it turns out that the 4D free Abelian 2-form gauge theory is not an exact TFT. To corroborate this conclusion, some of the key issues are discussed. In particular, it is shown that the (anti-)BRST and (anti-)co-BRST invariant quantities of the 4D 2-form Abelian gauge theory obey recursion relations that are reminiscent of the exact TFTs but the Lagrangian density of this theory is not found to be able to be expressed as the sum of (anti-)BRST and (anti-)co-BRST exact quantities as is the case with the topological 2D free Abelian (and self-interacting non-Abelian) gauge theories.