Noether's theorems and conserved currents in gauge theories in the presence of fixed fields
Abstract
We extend the standard construction of conserved currents for matter fields in general relativity to general gauge theories. In the original construction, the conserved current associated with a spacetime symmetry generated by a Killing field hμ is given by √{-g }Tμ νhν , where Tμ ν is the energy-momentum tensor of the matter. We show that if in a Lagrangian field theory that has gauge symmetry in the general Noetherian sense some of the elementary fields are fixed and are invariant under a particular infinitesimal gauge transformation, then there is a current Bμ that is analogous to √{-g }Tμ νhν and is conserved if the nonfixed fields satisfy their Euler-Lagrange equations. The conservation of Bμ can be seen as a consequence of an identity that is a generalization of ∇μTμ ν=0 and is a consequence of the gauge symmetry of the Lagrangian. This identity holds in any configuration of the fixed fields if the nonfixed fields satisfy their Euler-Lagrange equations. We also show that Bμ differs from the relevant canonical Noether current by the sum of an identically conserved current and a term that vanishes if the nonfixed fields are on shell. For an example, we discuss the case of general, possibly fermionic, matter fields propagating in fixed gravitational and Yang-Mills background. We find that in this case the generalization of ∇μTμ ν=0 is the Lorentz law ∇μTμ ν-Fa ν λJa λ=0 , which holds as a consequence of the diffeomorphism, local Lorentz and Yang-Mills gauge symmetry of the matter Lagrangian. For a second simple example, we consider the case of general fields propagating in a background that consists of a gravitational and a real scalar field.
- Publication:
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Physical Review D
- Pub Date:
- July 2017
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.96.025018
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1610.03281
- Bibcode:
- 2017PhRvD..96b5018T
- Keywords:
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- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
- High Energy Physics - Theory;
- Mathematical Physics
- E-Print:
- 28 pages, LaTeX, minor changes, journal reference added