Thin homotopy and the holonomy approach to gauge theories

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Publication:5085342

DOI10.1090/CONM/775/15594zbMATH Open1495.53071arXiv1904.10822OpenAlexW3216336266MaRDI QIDQ5085342FDOQ5085342

Cláudio N. Meneses

Publication date: 27 June 2022

Published in: Mexican Mathematicians in the World (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We survey several mathematical developments in the holonomy approach to gauge theory. A cornerstone of this approach is the introduction of group structures on spaces of based loops on a smooth manifold, relying on certain homotopy equivalence relations -- such as the so-called thin homotopy -- and the resulting interpretation of gauge fields as group homomorphisms to a Lie group G satisfying a suitable smoothness condition, encoding the holonomy of a gauge orbit of smooth connections on a principal G-bundle. We also prove several structural results on thin homotopy, and in particular we clarify the difference between thin equivalence and retrace equivalence for piecewise-smooth based loops on a smooth manifold, which are often used interchangeably in the physics literature. We conclude by listing a set of questions on topological and functional analytic aspects of groups of based loops, which we consider to be fundamental to establish a rigorous differential geometric foundation of the holonomy formulation of gauge theory.


Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.10822




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