PITHA – 99/27 hep–th/9908170 Abelian BF -Theory and Spherically Symmetric Electromagnetism

Three different methods to quantize the spherically symmetric sector of electromagnetism are presented: First, it is shown that this sector is equivalent to Abelian BF -theory in four spacetime dimensions with suitable boundary conditions. This theory, in turn, is quantized by both a reduced phase space quantization and a spin network quantization. Finally, the outcome is compared with the results obtained in the recently proposed general quantum symmetry reduction scheme. In the magnetically uncharged sector, where all three approaches apply, they all lead to the same quantum theory.