N ov 1 99 5 Dirac versus reduced phase space quantization for systems admitting no gauge conditions

The constrained Hamiltonian systems admitting no gauge conditions are considered. The methods to deal with such systems are discussed and developed. As a concrete application, the relationship between the Dirac and reduced phase space quantizations is investigated for spin models belonging to the class of systems under consideration. It is traced out that the two quantization methods may give similar, or essentially different physical results, and, moreover, a class of constrained systems, which can be quantized only by the Dirac method, is discussed. A possible interpretation of the gauge degrees of freedom is given. On leave from the Institute for High Energy Physics, Protvino, Russia; E–mail: [email protected] E–mail: [email protected]