The local, covariant, continuous, anticommuting and nilpotent Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) and anti-BRST symmetry transformations for all the fields of a (0 + 1)-dimensional spinning relativistic particle are obtained in the framework of augmented superfield approach to BRST formalism. The trajectory of this super-particle is parametrized by a monotonically increasing parameter τ that is em...

The complete on-shell action of topological Einstein-Maxwell gravity in four-dimensions is presented. It is shown explicitly how this theory for SU(2) holonomy manifolds arises from four-dimensional Euclidean N = 2 supergravity. The twisted local BRST symmetries and twisted local Lorentz symmetries are given and the action and stress tensor are shown to be BRST-exact. A set of BRST-invariant to...

We show how to gauge the set of raising and lowering generators of an arbitrary Lie algebra. We consider SU(N) as an example. The nilpotency of the BRST charge requires constraints on the ghosts associated to the raising and lowering generators. To remove these constraints we add further ghosts and we need a second BRST charge to obtain nontrivial cohomology. The second BRST operator yields a g...

We discuss the (dual-)gauge transformations and BRST cohomology for the two (1 + 1)-dimensional (2D) free Abelian one-form and four (3 + 1)-dimensional (4D) free Abelian 2-form gauge theories by exploiting the (co-)BRST symmetries (and their corresponding generators) for the Lagrangian densities of these theories. For the 4D free 2-form gauge theory, we show that the changes on the antisymmetri...

We reformulate the proof of the renormalization of a spontaneously broken gauge theory by multiplicatively renormalizing the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field in the SU(2) Higgs model. After BRST symmetry was discovered [1], it was noted that the renormalization of gauge theories [2] can be simplified by using BRST methods. In [3] Becchi, Rouet and Stora considered the SU(2) Higgs mod...

In manifolds with spatial boundary, BRST formalism can be used to quantize gauge theories. We show that, in a U(1) gauge theory, only a subset of all the boundary conditions allowed by the self-adjointness of the Hamiltonian preserves BRST symmetry. Hence, the theory can be quantized using BRST formalism only when that subset of boundary conditions is considered. We also show that for such boun...

We study the massive Curci-Ferrari model as a starting point for defining BRST quantisation for Yang-Mills theory on the lattice. In particular, we elucidate this proposal in light of topological approaches to gauge-fixing and study the case of a simple one-link Abelian model. BRST symmetry has proven an invaluable tool in the perturbative quantisa-tion of gauge theories [1] so that its elevati...

We study the massive Curci-Ferrari model as a starting point for defining BRST quantisation for Yang-Mills theory on the lattice. In particular, we elucidate this proposal in light of topological approaches to gauge-fixing and study the case of a simple one-link Abelian model. BRST symmetry has proven an invaluable tool in the perturbative quantisa-tion of gauge theories [1] so that its elevati...

We discuss the renormalization of a BRST and anti-BRST invariant composite operator of mass dimension 2 in Yang-Mills theory with the general BRST and anti-BRST invariant gauge fixing term of the Lorentz type. The interest of this study stems from a recent claim that the non-vanishing vacuum condensate of the composite operator in question can be an origin of mass gap and quark confinement in a...

We construct a class of BRST-invariant closed string states for any classical solution of open string field theory. The closed string state is a nonlinear functional of the open string field and changes by a BRST-exact term under a gauge transformation of the solution. As a result, its contraction with an on-shell closed string state provides a gauge-invariant observable of open string field th...