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Large Gauge Transformation
Given a topological space ''M'', a topological group ''G'' and a principal G-bundle over ''M'', a global section of that principal bundle is a gauge fixing and the process of replacing one section by another is a gauge transformation. If a gauge transformation isn't homotopic to the identity, it is called a large gauge transformation. In theoretical physics, ''M'' often is a manifold and ''G'' is a Lie group. See also *Large diffeomorphism *Global anomaly Primary Examples In theoretical physics, a global anomaly is a type of anomaly: in this particular case, it is a quantum effect that invalidates a large gauge transformation that would otherwise be preserved in the classical theory. This lea ... References {{differential-geometry-stub Gauge theories Anomalies (physics) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Topological Space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a Geometry, geometrical space in which Closeness (mathematics), closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric Distance (mathematics), distance. More specifically, a topological space is a Set (mathematics), set whose elements are called Point (geometry), points, along with an additional structure called a topology, which can be defined as a set of Neighbourhood (mathematics), neighbourhoods for each point that satisfy some Axiom#Non-logical axioms, axioms formalizing the concept of closeness. There are several equivalent definitions of a topology, the most commonly used of which is the definition through open sets, which is easier than the others to manipulate. A topological space is the most general type of a space (mathematics), mathematical space that allows for the definition of Limit (mathematics), limits, Continuous function (topology), continuity, and Connected space, connectedness. Common types ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Topological Group
In mathematics, topological groups are the combination of groups and topological spaces, i.e. they are groups and topological spaces at the same time, such that the continuity condition for the group operations connects these two structures together and consequently they are not independent from each other. Topological groups were studied extensively in the period of 1925 to 1940. Haar and Weil (respectively in 1933 and 1940) showed that the integrals and Fourier series are special cases of a construct that can be defined on a very wide class of topological groups. Topological groups, along with continuous group actions, are used to study continuous symmetries, which have many applications, for example, in physics. In functional analysis, every topological vector space is an additive topological group with the additional property that scalar multiplication is continuous; consequently, many results from the theory of topological groups can be applied to functional anal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Principal Bundle
In mathematics, a principal bundle is a mathematical object that formalizes some of the essential features of the Cartesian product X \times G of a space X with a group G. In the same way as with the Cartesian product, a principal bundle P is equipped with # An action of G on P, analogous to (x, g)h = (x, gh) for a product space (where (x, g) is an element of P and h is the group element from G; the group action is conventionally a right action). # A projection onto X. For a product space, this is just the projection onto the first factor, (x,g) \mapsto x. Unless it is the product space X \times G, a principal bundle lacks a preferred choice of identity cross-section; it has no preferred analog of x \mapsto (x,e). Likewise, there is not generally a projection onto G generalizing the projection onto the second factor, X \times G \to G that exists for the Cartesian product. They may also have a complicated topology that prevents them from being realized as a product space even if a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Global Section
In mathematics, a sheaf (: sheaves) is a tool for systematically tracking data (such as Set (mathematics), sets, abelian groups, Ring (mathematics), rings) attached to the open sets of a topological space and defined locally with regard to them. For example, for each open set, the data could be the ring of continuous function, continuous function (mathematics), functions defined on that open set. Such data are well-behaved in that they can be restricted to smaller open sets, and also the data assigned to an open set are equivalent to all collections of compatible data assigned to collections of smaller open sets cover (topology), covering the original open set (intuitively, every datum is the sum of its constituent data). The field of mathematics that studies sheaves is called sheaf theory. Sheaves are understood conceptually as general and abstract Mathematical object, objects. Their precise definition is rather technical. They are specifically defined as sheaves of sets or as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Gauge Fixing
In the physics of gauge theories, gauge fixing (also called choosing a gauge) denotes a mathematical procedure for coping with redundant degrees of freedom in field variables. By definition, a gauge theory represents each physically distinct configuration of the system as an equivalence class of detailed local field configurations. Any two detailed configurations in the same equivalence class are related by a certain transformation, equivalent to a shear along unphysical axes in configuration space. Most of the quantitative physical predictions of a gauge theory can only be obtained under a coherent prescription for suppressing or ignoring these unphysical degrees of freedom. Although the unphysical axes in the space of detailed configurations are a fundamental property of the physical model, there is no special set of directions "perpendicular" to them. Hence there is an enormous amount of freedom involved in taking a "cross section" representing each physical configuration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
