BRST Analysis and BFV Quantization of the Generalized Quantum Rigid Rotor

TL;DR

This paper explores the BRST and BFV quantization of a gauge-invariant generalization of the quantum rigid rotor, revealing connections among various second-class systems and providing a unified framework for their analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a gauge-invariant generalization of the quantum rigid rotor and applies BRST and BFV methods to analyze and connect different second-class systems.

Findings

Derived effective actions with different gauge fixings

Explicitly demonstrated BRST symmetries in various gauges

Connected previously unrelated gauge-invariant models

Abstract

We identify a strong similarity among several distinct originally second-class systems, including both mechanical and field theory models, which can be naturally described in a gauge-invariant way. The canonical structure of such related systems is encoded into a gauge-invariant generalization of the quantum rigid rotor. We pursue the BRST symmetry analysis and the BFV functional quantization for the mentioned gauge-invariant version of the generalized quantum rigid rotor. We obtain different equivalent effective actions according to specific gauge-fixing choices, showing explicitly their BRST symmetries. We apply and exemplify the ideas discussed to two particular models, namely, motion along an elliptical path and the $O(N)$ nonlinear sigma model, showing that our results reproduce and connect previously unrelated known gauge-invariant systems.