Unobservability of the topological charge in nonabelian gauge theory: Ward-Takahashi identity and phenomenological aspects

Abstract

We argue that the topological charge of nonabelian gauge theory is unphysical. To show this statement, we use the Adler-Bardeen theorem and the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin symmetry which are warranted by the perturbative finiteness of the chiral anomaly, thus being free of Gribov ambiguity. In addition to the original argument using the unphysical gauge field component collinear to the spatial derivative of the gauge function, we show the unobservability of the topological charge using the Ward-Takahashi identity. We then present the consequences of this finding and show the consistency with many physical pictures and ideas that have been developed around the topology of nonabelian gauge theory. The most important ones are the resolution of the Strong CP problem, the unobservability of topological instantons, the physical relevance of the axial $U(1)$ symmetry, the independence of the vacuum energy on the vacuum angle, and the impossibility to realize the sphaleron induced baryogenesis and chiral magnetic effects. The axial $U(1)$ symmetry and the unphysical $\theta$-term imply that the physical complex phase of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix is the sole source of CP violation in the standard model. The unphysical sphaleron also means that the lepton number is phenomenologically free from the baryon number, and their violations may be modeled separately. We also comment on the consistency with the results of lattice calculations.