Symmetries in Constrained Systems

We describe symmetry structure of a general singular theory (theory with constraints in the Hamiltonian formulation), and, in particular, we relate the structure of gauge transformations with the constraint structure. We show that any symmetry transformation can be represented as a sum of three kinds of symmetries: global, gauge, and trivial symmetries. We construct explicitly all the corresponding conserved charges as decompositions in a special constraint basis. The global part of a symmetry does not vanish on the extremals, and the corresponding charge does not vanish on the extremals as well. The gauge part of a symmetry does not vanish on the extremals, but the gauge charge vanishes on them. We stress that the gauge charge necessarily contains a part that vanishes linearly in the first-class constraints and the remaining part of the gauge charge vanishes quadratically on the extremals. The trivial part of any symmetry vanishes on the extremals, and the corresponding charge vanishes quadratically on the extremals.Comment: The talk on Conference "Lie and Jordan algebras, their Representations and Applications II", Brazil, Guaruja, 3-8 May 2004, 9 pages, LaTex fil

Constraint Reorganization Consistent with the Dirac Procedure

The way of finding all the constraints in the Hamiltonian formulation of singular (in particular, gauge) theories is called the Dirac procedure. The constraints are naturally classified according to the correspondig stages of this procedure. On the other hand, it is convenient to reorganize the constraints such that they are explicitly decomposed into the first-class and second-class constraints. We discuss the reorganization of the constraints into the first- and second-class constraints that is consistent with the Dirac procedure, i.e., that does not violate the decomposition of the constraints according to the stages of the Dirac procedure. The possibility of such a reorganization is important for the study of gauge symmetries in the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex fil