EXTENDED BRS SYMMETRY IN TOPOLOGICAL FIELD THEORIES

Abstract

A class of topological field theories like the BF model and Chern–Simons theory, when quantized in the Landau gauge, enjoys the property of invariance under a vector supersymmetry, which is responsible for their finiteness. We introduce a new type of gauge fixing which makes these theories invariant under an extended BRS symmetry, containing a new type of field, the ghost of diffeomorphisms. The presence of such an extension is naturally related to the vector supersymmetry discussed before.