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Journal of High Energy Physics

, 2019:126 | Cite as

Asymptotic charges, large gauge transformations and inequivalence of different gauges in external current QED

  • Wojciech DybalskiEmail author
  • Benedikt Wegener
Open Access
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
First Online:
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Abstract

In this paper we consider external current QED in the Coulomb gauge and in axial gauges for various spatial directions of the axis. For a non-zero electric charge of the current, we demonstrate that any two different gauges from this class correspond to quantum theories which are not unitarily equivalent. We show that the spacelike asymptotic flux of the electromagnetic field is the underlying superselected quantity. We also express the large gauge transformation linking two distinct axial gauges by the Wilson loop over a contour limited by the two axes. Thus the underlying physical mechanism appears to be related to the Aharonov-Bohm effect.

Keywords

Gauge Symmetry Nonperturbative Effects 
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Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited

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Copyright information

© The Author(s) 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Zentrum MathematikTechnische Universität MünchenMunichGermany
  2. 2.Dipartimento di MatematicaUniversità di Roma “Tor Vergata”RomeItaly

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