Remarks on Screening in a Gauge-Invariant Formalism

TL;DR

This paper derives the screening contribution to interaction potentials in gauge theories using a gauge-invariant formalism, emphasizing the importance of separating gauge degrees of freedom for physical clarity.

Contribution

It provides a direct derivation of screening effects in gauge theories through a gauge-invariant approach, clarifying the role of gauge degrees of freedom.

Findings

Explicit gauge-invariant fields are obtained.

Screening contributions are derived naturally from the formalism.

Results apply to the Chiral Schwinger model and Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory.

Abstract

In this paper we display a direct and physically attractive derivation of the screening contribution to the interaction potential in the Chiral Schwinger model and generalized Maxwell-Chern-Simons gauge theory. It is shown that these results emerge naturally when a correct separation between gauge-invariant and gauge degrees of freedom is made. Explicit expressions for gauge-invariant fields are found.