CONSISTENT AXIAL-LIKE GAUGE FIXING ON HYPERTORI

Abstract

We analyze the Gribov problem for SU (N) and U (N) Yang–Mills fields on d-dimensional tori, d = 2, 3, …. We give an improved version of the axial gauge condition and find an infinite, discrete group [Formula: see text] where r = N − 1 and N for G = SU (N) and U (N) respectively, containing all gauge transformations compatible with that condition. This residual gauge group [Formula: see text] provides all Gribov copies for nondegenerate configurations in d = 2 and for those of them for which all winding numbers of the Wilson–Polyakov loop in one direction vanish in d ≥ 3. This shows that the space of gauge orbits is an orbifold. We derive this result both in the Lagrangian and in the Hamiltonian framework.