A note on the Faddeev-Popov determinant and Chern-Simons perturbation theory (Q1373292)

It is well-known that when the classical solution is a reducible gauge field (e.g., the zero-instanton in Yang-Mills theory on \(S^4\) or an arbitrary flat gauge field in Chern-Simons theory on \(S^3\)), the Faddeev-Popov determinant obtained by the standard derivation is degenerate, and the perturbative techniques fail because the ghost propagator is ill-defined. These and related problems can be avoided if the considerations are restricted to irreducible gauge fields. In this paper the author shows that these problems can be avoided by a more careful derivation of the Faddeev-Popov determinant, taking account of certain gauge-fixing ambiguities which arise when the classical solution is reducible. The result is the following: Instead of the usual Faddeev-Popov determinant he obtains \[ V(H_{A^c})^{-1} \text{ det}(\nabla^{*}_{A^c}\nabla_{A} |_{\text{ker}(\nabla_{A^c})^{\perp}}). \] Here \(\nabla_A:\Gamma_0\to \Gamma_1\) is the covariant derivative map determined by a gauge field \(A\), \(\nabla^{*}_{A^c}\) is the adjoint map and \(V(H_{A^c})\) denotes the (finite) volume of the isotropy group \(H_{A^c}\) of \(A^c\). The author applies this result to the Chern-Simons perturbation theory on compact spacetime 3-manifolds developed by S. Axelrod and I. M. Singer.