Chern-Simons States in Topologically Massive Gauge Theories

TL;DR

This paper explores the relationship between ground states of nonabelian topologically massive gauge theories and Chern-Simons theory, but its original conclusions are withdrawn due to inaccuracies in the nonabelian case.

Contribution

It initially proposed a correspondence between degenerate ground states of nonabelian gauge theories and Chern-Simons Hilbert spaces, which was later corrected.

Findings

Original conjecture was incorrect for nonabelian cases

Corrected analysis is available in subsequent work by other authors

Highlights the complexity of nonabelian topologically massive gauge theories

Abstract

The set of degenerate ground states of an arbitrary nonabelian topologically massive gauge theory is shown to be in one-to-one correspondence with the Hilbert space of the associated pure Chern-Simons theory. (Paper is being withdrawn: original conclusion is incorrect for the nonabelian case. For a correct treatment, see M. Asorey, S. Carlip, and F. Falceto, hep-th/9304081.)