Quantum Global Strings and Their Correlation Functions

A full quantum description of global vortex strings is presented in the framework of a pure Higgs system with a broken global U(1) symmetry in 3+1D. An explicit expression for the string creation operator is obtained, both in terms of the Higgs field and in the dual formulation where a Kalb-Ramond antisymmetric tensor gauge field is employed as the basic field. The quantum string correlation function is evaluated and from this, the string energy density is obtained. Potential application in cosmology (cosmic strings) and condensed matter (vortices in superfluids) are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, latex, no figure

Are There Topologically Charged States Associated with Quantum Electrodynamics ?

We present a formulation of Quantum Electrodynamics in terms of an antisymmetric tensor gauge field. In this formulation the topological current of this field appears as a source for the electromagnetic field and the topological charge therefore acts physically as an electric charge. The charged states of QED lie in the sector where the topological charge is identical to the matter charge. The antisymmetric field theory, however, admits new sectors where the topological charge is more general. These nontrivial, electrically charged, sectors contain massless states orthogonal to the vacuum which are created by a gauge invariant operator and can be interpreted as coherent states of photons. We evaluate the correlation functions of these states in the absence of matter. The new states have a positive definite norm and do interact with the charged states of QED in the usual way. It is argued that if these new sectors are in fact realized in nature then a very intense background electromagnetic field is necessary for the experimental observation of them. The order of magnitude of the intensity threshold is estimated.Comment: 29 pages, 1 Figure (available from the author upon request

Local Charged States of the Gauge Field in Three Dimensional Maxwell-Type Theories

Gauge invariant local creation operators of charged states are introduced and studied in pure gauge theories of the Maxwell type in 2+1D. These states are usually unphysical because of the subsidiary condition imposed on the physical subspace by Gauss' law. A dual Maxwell theory which possesses a topological electric charge is introduced. Pure Electrodynamics lies in the sector where the topological charge identically vanishes. Charge bearing operators fully expressed in terms of the gauge field, however, can create physical states in the nontrivial topological sectors which thereby generalize QED. An order disorder structure exists relating the charged operators and the magnetic flux creating (vortex) operators, both through commutation rules and correlation functions. The relevance of this structure for bosonization in 2+1D is discussed.Comment: Latex, 16 pages, two figures available upon request as postscript file