Decoupled path integral formulation of chiral QCD\(_2\) with \(a_{JR}=2\) (Q1271546)

In analogy to chiral electrodynamics, it is known that chiral quantum chromodynamics has special features in two dimensions and, by a change of field variables, transforms into some model of the Wess-Zumino-Witten type. Still, a certain amount of ambiguity remains and is reflected in the presence of the Jackiw-Rajaraman parameter \(a\). In this work, the value \(a= 2\) is adopted so that a decoupling of fields is achieved. The BRST constraints and the corresponding Hilbert space structure are analyzed taking advantage of a formulation where the path integral decouples (i.e., may be written as a product). The authors arrive at the conclusion that, for \(a= 2\), the chiral QCD is not equivalent to the (nonchiral) QCD. The case \(a\neq 2\) remains obscure since no decoupled formulation is known.