What is Abelian gauge theory?

Gauge theories are important as the successful field theories explaining the dynamics of elementary particles. Quantum electrodynamics is an abelian gauge theory with the symmetry group U(1) and has one gauge field, the electromagnetic four-potential, with the photon being the gauge boson.

What is quantum gauge theory?

A gauge field theory is a special type of quantum field theory, in which matter fields (like electrons and quarks, which make up protons and neutrons) interact with each other via forces that are mediated by the exchange of vector bosons (like photons and gluons, which bind quarks together in nucleons).

What is the meaning of gauge invariant?

The term gauge invariance refers to the property that a whole class of scalar and vector potentials, related by so-called gauge transformations, describe the same electric and magnetic fields.

What do you mean by Coulomb gauge?

The Coulomb gauge is a minimal gauge in the sense that the integral of A2 over all space is minimal for this gauge: All other gauges give a larger integral. The minimum value given by the Coulomb gauge is . In regions far from electric charge the scalar potential becomes zero. This is known as the radiation gauge.

What is gauge theory intuitive?

4y. A gauge theory is a theory which is built around making sure that a gauge symmetry is preserved, i.e. the theory should be invariant under gauge transformations. Physically observable physics doesn’t change when changes in gauge are made.

Is gauge invariance a symmetry?

Since any kind of invariance under a field transformation is considered a symmetry, gauge invariance is sometimes called gauge symmetry. Gauge theories constrain the laws of physics, because all the changes induced by a gauge transformation have to cancel each other out when written in terms of observable quantities.

What is the difference between Coulomb gauge and Lorentz gauge?

Lorentz gauge is a partial gauge fixing of the electromagnetic vector potential while Coulomb gauge is a type of gauge that is expressed in terms of instantaneous values of the fields and densities.

What is gauge theory simple explanation?

A gauge theory is a type of theory in physics. For example, if you could measure the color of lead balls and discover that when you change the color, you still fit the same number of balls in a pound, the property of “color” would show gauge invariance.