We show how to implement the background field method by means of canonical transformations and comment on the applications of the method to non-perturbative techniques in non-Abelian gauge theories. We discuss the case of the lattice in some details.
Electromagnetism, the strong and the weak interaction are commonly formulated as gauge theories in a Lagrangian description. In this paper we present an alternative formal derivation of U(1)-gauge theory in a manifestly covariant Hamilton formalism. We make use of canonical transformations as our guiding tool to formalize the gauging procedure. The introduction of the gauge field, its transformation behaviour and a dynamical gauge field Lagrangian/Hamiltonian are unavoidable consequences of this formalism, whereas the form of the free gauge Lagrangian/Hamiltonian depends on the selection of the gauge dependence of the canonically conjugate gauge fields.
We reconsider gauge-transformation properties in chiral gauge theories on the lattice observing all pertinent information and show that these properties are actually determined in a general way for any gauge group and for any value of the index. In our investigations we also clarify several related issues.
At large N, a field theory and its orbifolds (given by projecting out some of its fields) share the same planar graphs. If the parent-orbifold relation continues even nonperturbatively, then properties such as confinement and chiral symmetry breaking will appear in both parent and orbifold. N=1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills has many nonsupersymmetric orbifolds which resemble QCD. A nonperturbative parent-orbifold relation predicts many surprising effects, exactly valid at large N, and expected to suffer only mild 1/N corrections. These include degeneracies among bosonic hadrons and exact predictions for domain wall tensions. Other predictions are valid even when supersymmetry in the parent is broken. Since these theories are QCD-like, simulation is possible, so these predictions may be numerically tested. The method also relates wide classes of nonsupersymmetric theories.
We study the dynamics of a N=2 supersymmetric SU(N) gauge theory with fundamental or adjoint matter in presence of a non trivial Omega-background along a two dimensional plane. The prepotential and chiral correlators of the gauge theory can be obtained, via a saddle point analysis, from an equation which can be viewed as a non commutative version of the standard Seiberg and Witten curve.
The conception of the conformal phase transiton (CPT), which is relevant for the description of non-perturbative dynamics in gauge theories, is introduced and elaborated. The main features of such a phase transition are established. In particular, it is shown that in the CPT there is an abrupt change of the spectrum of light excitations at the critical point, though the phase transition is continuous. The structure of the effective action describing the CPT is elaborated and its connection with the dynamics of the partially conserved dilatation current is pointed out. The applications of these results to QCD, models of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking, and to the description of the phase diagram in (3+1)-dimensional $ SU(N_c)$ gauge theories are considered.