In this article we describe the relation between the Chern-Simons gauge theory partition function and the partition function defined using the symplectic action functional as the Lagrangian. We show that the partition functions obtained using these two Lagrangians agree, and we identify the semiclassical formula for the partition function defined using the symplectic action functional.
We compute the semiclassical formulas for the partition functions obtained using two different Lagrangians: the Chern-Simons functional and the symplectic action functional.
We compute the gravitational Chern-Simons term explicitly for an adiabatic family of metrics using standard methods in general relativity. We use the fact that our base three-manifold is a quasi-regular K-contact manifold heavily in this computation. Our key observation is that this geometric assumption corresponds exactly to a Kaluza-Klein Ansatz for the metric tensor on our three manifold, which allows us to translate our problem into the language of general relativity. Similar computations have been performed in a paper of Guralnik, Iorio, Jackiw and Pi (2003), although not in the adiabatic context.
Chern-Simons theory on a closed contact three-manifold is studied when the Lie group for gauge transformations is compact, connected and abelian. A rigorous definition of an abelian Chern-Simons partition function is derived using the Faddeev-Popov gauge fixing method. A symplectic abelian Chern-Simons partition function is also derived using the technique of non-abelian localization. This physically identifies the symplectic abelian partition function with the abelian Chern-Simons partition function as rigorous topological three-manifold invariants. This study leads to a natural identification of the abelian Reidemeister-Ray-Singer torsion as a specific multiple of the natural unit symplectic volume form on the moduli space of flat abelian connections for the class of Sasakian three-manifolds. The torsion part of the abelian Chern-Simons partition function is computed explicitly in terms of Seifert data for a given Sasakian three-manifold.
Based on Koopmans theory of classical wavefunctions in phase space, we present the Koopman-van Hove (KvH) formulation of classical mechanics as well as some of its properties. In particular, we show how the associated classical Liouville density arises as a momentum map associated to the unitary action of strict contact transformations on classical wavefunctions. Upon applying the Madelung transform from quantum hydrodynamics in the new context, we show how the Koopman wavefunction picture is insufficient to reproduce arbitrary classical distributions. However, this problem is entirely overcome by resorting to von Neumann operators. Indeed, we show that the latter also allow for singular $delta-$like profiles of the Liouville density, thereby reproducing point particles in phase space.
By using the Hamilton-Jacobi [HJ] framework the three dimensional Palatini theory plus a Chern-Simons term [PCS] is analyzed. We report the complete set of $HJ$ Hamiltonians and a generalized $HJ$ differential from which all symmetries of the theory are identified. Moreover, we show that in spite of PCS Lagrangian produces Einsteins equations, the generalized $HJ$ brackets depend on a Barbero-Immirzi like parameter. In addition we complete our study by performing a canonical covariant analysis, and we construct a closed and gauge invariant two form that encodes the symplectic geometry of the covariant phase space.