Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-physics-major-option-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/6/a/solution
Past exam of the theoretical physics major option course of the University of Oxford 2017 6 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Introduce three independent local parameters . A consistent convention for the three Abelian gauge transformations isIndeed, shifts by , cancelling the derivative of the scalar phase. Thus transforms by the same phase as . The two kinetic terms, the absolute-value potentials and all Abelian field strengths are invariant.
In units where the gauge coupling is , the charge vectors under the three factors areLocally this is the gauge algebra of . To interpret it globally as three compact circle groups, the charges must belong to a compatible charge lattice: in the stated unit-charge convention integer is sufficient, while arbitrary irrational is not a single-valued compact-group representation. The local transformations and mass calculation remain meaningful for general positive real as a Lie-algebra calculation, or with noncompact Abelian factors.
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