A. A. Sharapov

Lagrange structure and quantization

A path-integral quantization method is proposed for dynamical systems whose clas- sical equations of motion do not necessarily follow from the action principle. The key new notion behind this quantization scheme is the Lagrange structure which is more general than the La- grangian formalism in the same sense as Poisson geometry is more general than the symplectic one. The Lagrange structure is shown to admit a natural BRST description which is used to construct an AKSZ-type topological sigma-model. The dynamics of this sigma-model in d + 1 dimensions, being localized on the boundary, are proved to be equivalent to the original theory in d dimensions. As the topological sigma-model has a well defined action, it is path-integral quan- tized in the usual way that results in quantization of the original (not necessarily Lagrangian) theory. When the original equations of motion come from the action principle, the standard BV path-integral is explicitly deduced from the proposed quantization scheme. The general quanti- zation scheme is exemplified by several models including the ones whose classical dynamics are not variational.

BRST theory without Hamiltonian and Lagrangian

We consider a generic gauge system, whose physical degrees of freedom are obtained by restriction on a constraint surface followed by factorization with respect to the action of gauge transformations; in so doing, no Hamiltonian structure or action principle is supposed to exist. For such a generic gauge system we construct a consistent BRST formulation, which includes the conventional BV Lagrangian and BFV Hamiltonian schemes as particular cases. If the original manifold carries a weak Poisson structure (a bivector field giving rise to a Poisson bracket on the space of physical observables) the generic gauge system is shown to admit deformation quantization by means of the Kontsevich formality theorem. A sigma-model interpretation of this quantization algorithm is briefly discussed.

Radiation reaction and renormalization in classical electrodynamics of a point particle in any dimension

The effective equations of motion for a point charged particle taking account of radiation reaction are considered in various space-time dimensions. The divergencies steaming from the pointness of the particle are studied and the effective renormalization procedure is proposed encompassing uniformly the cases of all even dimensions. It is shown that in any dimension the classical electrodynamics is a renormalizable theory if not multiplicatively beyond d=4. For the cases of three and six dimensions the covariant analogs of the Lorentz-Dirac equation are explicitly derived.

Classical and quantum stability of higher-derivative dynamics

We observe that a wide class of higher-derivative systems admits a bounded integral of motion that ensures the classical stability of dynamics, while the canonical energy is unbounded. We use the concept of a Lagrange anchor to demonstrate that the bounded integral of motion is connected with the time-translation invariance. A procedure is suggested for switching on interactions in free higher-derivative systems without breaking their stability. We also demonstrate the quantization technique that keeps the higher-derivative dynamics stable at quantum level. The general construction is illustrated by the examples of the Pais–Uhlenbeck oscillator, higher-derivative scalar field model, and the Podolsky electrodynamics. For all these models, the positive integrals of motion are explicitly constructed and the interactions are included such that they keep the system stable.

Rigid symmetries and conservation laws in non-Lagrangian field theory

Making use of the Lagrange anchor construction introduced earlier to quantize non-Lagrangian field theories, we extend the Noether theorem beyond the class of variational dynamics.

Characteristic classes of gauge systems

Abstract We define and study invariants which can be uniformly constructed for any gauge system. By a gauge system we understand an (anti-)Poisson supermanifold provided with an odd Hamiltonian self-commuting vector field called a homological vector field. This definition encompasses all the cases usually included into the notion of a gauge theory in physics as well as some other similar (but different) structures like Lie or Courant algebroids. For Lagrangian gauge theories or Hamiltonian first class constrained systems, the homological vector field is identified with the classical BRST transformation operator. We define characteristic classes of a gauge system as universal cohomology classes of the homological vector field, which are uniformly constructed in terms of this vector field itself. Not striving to exhaustively classify all the characteristic classes in this work, we compute those invariants which are built up in terms of the first derivatives of the homological vector field. We also consider the cohomological operations in the space of all the characteristic classes. In particular, we show that the (anti-)Poisson bracket becomes trivial when applied to the space of all the characteristic classes, instead the latter space can be endowed with another Lie bracket operation. Making use of this Lie bracket one can generate new characteristic classes involving higher derivatives of the homological vector field. The simplest characteristic classes are illustrated by the examples relating them to anomalies in the traditional BV or BFV-BRST theory and to characteristic classes of (singular) foliations.

Radiation reaction for a massless charged particle

We derive effective equations of motion for a massless charged particle coupled to the dynamical electromagnetic field with regard to the radiation back reaction. It is shown that unlike the massive case, not all the divergences resulting from the self-action of the particle are Lagrangian, i.e., can be cancelled out by adding appropriate counterterms to the original action. Besides, the order of renormalized differential equations governing the effective dynamics turns out to be greater than the order of the corresponding Lorentz–Dirac equation for a massive particle. For the case of a homogeneous external field, the first radiative correction to the Lorentz equation is explicitly derived via the reduction of order procedure.

Consistent interactions and involution

A bstractStarting from the concept of involution of field equations, a universal method is proposed for constructing consistent interactions between the fields. The method equally well applies to the Lagrangian and non-Lagrangian equations and it is explicitly covariant. No auxiliary fields are introduced. The equations may have (or have no) gauge symmetry and/or second class constraints in Hamiltonian formalism, providing the theory admits a Hamiltonian description. In every case the method identifies all the consistent interactions.

Wick type deformation quantization of Fedosov manifolds

Abstract A coordinate-free definition for Wick-type symbols is given for symplectic manifolds by means of the Fedosov procedure. The geometry of the symplectic manifolds admitting the symbol construction is explored and a certain analogue of the Newlander–Nirenberg theorem is presented. The 2-form is explicitly identified which cohomological class coincides with the Fedosov class of the Wick-type star-product. For the Kahler manifolds this class is shown to be proportional to the first Chern class of a complex manifold. We also show that the symbol construction admits canonical superextension, which can be thought of as the Wick-type deformation of the exterior algebra of differential forms on the base (even) manifold. Possible applications of the deformed superalgebra to the noncommutative field theory and strings are discussed.

Local BRST cohomologyin(non-)Lagrangian field theory

Some general theorems are established on the local BRST cohomology for not necessarily Lagrangian gauge theories. Particular attention is given to the BRST groups with direct physical interpretation. Among other things, the groups of rigid symmetries and conservation laws are shown to be still connected, though less tightly than in the Lagrangian theory. The connection is provided by the elements of another local BRST cohomology group whose elements are identified with Lagrange structures. This extends the cohomological formulation of the Noether theorem beyond the scope of Lagrangian dynamics. We show that each integrable Lagrange structure gives rise to a Lie bracket in the space of conservation laws, which generalizes the Dickey bracket of conserved currents known in Lagrangian field theory. We study the issues of existence and uniqueness of the local BRST complex associated with a given set of field equations endowed with a compatible Lagrange structure. Contrary to the usual BV formalism, such a complex does not always exist for non-Lagrangian dynamics, and when exists it is by no means unique. The ambiguity and obstructions are controlled by certain cohomology classes, which are all explicitly identified.