Solving Gauge Invariant Systems without Gauge Fixing: the Physical Projector in 0+1 Dimensional Theories

The projector onto gauge invariant physical states was recently constructed for arbitrary constrained systems. This approach, which does not require gauge fixing nor any additional degrees of freedom beyond the original ones---two characteristic features of all other available methods for quantising constrained dynamics---is put to work in the context of a general class of quantum mechanical gauge invariant systems. The cases of SO(2) and SO(3) gauge groups are considered specifically, and a comprehensive understanding of the corresponding physical spectra is achieved in a straightforward manner, using only standard methods of coherent states and group theory which are directly amenable to generalisation to other Lie algebras. Results extend by far the few examples available in the literature from much more subtle and delicate analyses implying gauge fixing and the characterization of modular space.Comment: 32 pages, LaTeX fil

On Electric Fields in Low Temperature Superconductors

The manifestly Lorentz covariant Landau-Ginzburg equations coupled to Maxwell's equations are considered as a possible framework for the effective description of the interactions between low temperature superconductors and magnetic as well as electric fields. A specific experimental set-up, involving a nanoscopic superconductor and only static applied fields whose geometry is crucial however, is described, which should allow to confirm or invalidate the covariant model through the determination of the temperature dependency of the critical magnetic-electric field phase diagram and the identification of some distinctive features it should display.Comment: 14 pages (Latex) + 2 postscript figure

The N=1 Supersymmetric Landau Problem and its Supersymmetric Landau Level Projections: the N=1 Supersymmetric Moyal-Voros Superplane

The N=1 supersymmetric invariant Landau problem is constructed and solved. By considering Landau level projections remaining non trivial under N=1 supersymmetry transformations, the algebraic structures of the N=1 supersymmetric covariant non(anti)commutative superplane analogue of the ordinary N=0 noncommutative Moyal-Voros plane are identified

Gauge Fixing and BFV Quantization

Nonsingularity conditions are established for the BFV gauge-fixing fermion which are sufficient for it to lead to the correct path integral for a theory with constraints canonically quantized in the BFV approach. The conditions ensure that anticommutator of this fermion with the BRST charge regularises the path integral by regularising the trace over non-physical states in each ghost sector. The results are applied to the quantization of a system which has a Gribov problem, using a non-standard form of the gauge-fixing fermion.Comment: 14 page

Coordinate-free quantization of first-class constrained systems

The coordinate-free formulation of canonical quantization, achieved by a flat-space Brownian motion regularization of phase-space path integrals, is extended to a special class of closed first-class constrained systems that is broad enough to include Yang-Mills type theories with an arbitrary compact gauge group. Central to this extension are the use of coherent state path integrals and of Lagrange multiplier integrations that engender projection operators onto the subspace of gauge invariant states

Coherent State Quantization of Constraint Systems

A careful reexamination of the quantization of systems with first- and second-class constraints from the point of view of coherent-state phase-space path integration reveals several significant distinctions from more conventional treatments. Most significantly, we emphasize the importance of using path-integral measures for Lagrange multipliers which ensure that the quantum system satisfies the quantum constraint conditions. Our procedures involve no delta-functionals of the classical constraints, no need for gauge fixing of first-class constraints, no need to eliminate second-class constraints, no potentially ambiguous determinants, and have the virtue of resolving differences between canonical and path-integral approaches. Several examples are considered in detail.Comment: Latex, 38 pages, no figure