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Interpretation of the topological terms in gauge system

Zhong Tang·David Finkelstein
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Abstract

We provide an alternative interpretation for the topological terms in physics by investigating the low-energy gauge interacting system. The asymptotic behavior of the gauge field at infinity indicates that it traces out a closed loop in the infinite time interval: -infinity, + infinity. Adopting Berry's argument of geometric phase, we show that the adiabatic evolution of the gauge system around the loop results in an additional term to the effective action: the Chern-Simons term for three-dimensional spacetime, and the Pontrjagin term for the four-dimensional spacetime.

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Zhong Tang, David Finkelstein. 1996-04-29. Interpretation of the topological terms in gauge system. https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9604185

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