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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.11792 |
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| _version_ | 1866916486399918080 |
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| author | del Rio, Adrian |
| author_facet | del Rio, Adrian |
| contents | It is known that an electric-magnetic duality transformation is a symmetry of the classical source-free Maxwell theory in generic spacetimes. This provides a conserved Noether charge, physically related to the polarization state of the electromagnetic field. We argue that this conservation law fails to hold at the quantum level in presence of a background classical gravitational field with non-trivial dynamics, as determined by the Chern-Pontryagin scalar. This is the spin 1 analog of the chiral anomaly for massless Dirac fermions. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_11792 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Electric-magnetic duality in the quantum theory del Rio, Adrian General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology It is known that an electric-magnetic duality transformation is a symmetry of the classical source-free Maxwell theory in generic spacetimes. This provides a conserved Noether charge, physically related to the polarization state of the electromagnetic field. We argue that this conservation law fails to hold at the quantum level in presence of a background classical gravitational field with non-trivial dynamics, as determined by the Chern-Pontryagin scalar. This is the spin 1 analog of the chiral anomaly for massless Dirac fermions. |
| title | Electric-magnetic duality in the quantum theory |
| topic | General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.11792 |