On SU(2) Yang-Mills Theory and the Maximal Abelian Gauge
Abstract
Description
The problem of identifying the dynamical degrees of freedom for SU(2) gauge theories is discussed. After studying SU(N) theories, it is shown that classical pure SU(2) gauge theory is equivalent to an abelian theory. Finally, we prove that the Maximal Abelian Gauge correctly identifies the abelian degrees of freedom of the SU(2) theory.