Algebraic isomorphism in two-dimensional anomalous gauge theories (Q1290484): Difference between revisions

Despite a sizable number of articles on the chiral Schwinger model (a two-dimensional field theory exhibiting breakdown of local gauge symmetry by anomalies), there seems to be some confusion about its structure. The authors wish to shed new light on the problem by discussing the model on the basis of Wightman field theory, especially by relying on the reconstruction of the Hilbert space of states from the set of Wightman functions. Wrong conclusions in the past are then seen to be due to some incorrect choice of the observables representing the fermionic sector. In the present work, the authors exclusively use what they call the `intrinsic field algebra' obtained from an irreducible set of field operators, this way avoiding the construction of superfluous states. A peculiar feature is that the model admits two different but isomorphic formulations: one is gauge invariant and the other one gauge noninvariant, however related by some operator-valued gauge transformation.