Gauge Invariance through Gauge Fixing
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2024
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| _version_ | 1866909262751465472 |
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| author | Wallace, David |
| author_facet | Wallace, David |
| contents | Phenomena in gauge theory are often described in the physics literature via a specific choice of gauge. In foundational and philosophical discussions this is often criticized as introducing gauge dependence, and contrasted against (often aspirational) "gauge-invariant" descriptions of the physics. I argue, largely in the context of scalar electrodynamics, that this is misguided, and that descriptions of a physical process within a specific gauge are in fact gauge-invariant descriptions. However, most of them are non-local descriptions of that physics, and I suggest that this ought to be the real objection to such descriptions. I explore the unitary gauge as the exception to this nonlocality and consider its strengths and limitations, as well as (more briefly) its extension beyond scalar electrodynamics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_15456 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Gauge Invariance through Gauge Fixing Wallace, David History and Philosophy of Physics High Energy Physics - Theory Phenomena in gauge theory are often described in the physics literature via a specific choice of gauge. In foundational and philosophical discussions this is often criticized as introducing gauge dependence, and contrasted against (often aspirational) "gauge-invariant" descriptions of the physics. I argue, largely in the context of scalar electrodynamics, that this is misguided, and that descriptions of a physical process within a specific gauge are in fact gauge-invariant descriptions. However, most of them are non-local descriptions of that physics, and I suggest that this ought to be the real objection to such descriptions. I explore the unitary gauge as the exception to this nonlocality and consider its strengths and limitations, as well as (more briefly) its extension beyond scalar electrodynamics. |
| title | Gauge Invariance through Gauge Fixing |
| topic | History and Philosophy of Physics High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.15456 |