Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 306 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use with the canonical Poisson bracket. The first-class constraint generatesIndeed the variation of the relativistic particle phase-space action isThe transformation is therefore a gauge invariance when its parameter vanishes at the time endpoints, or suitable boundary conditions remove the total derivative.
On a fixed interval of parameter length , the proper-time modulusis unchanged by these gauge transformations. Choosing sets , with . Thus the nonconstant part of the worldline einbein can be fixed, but its constant modulus must still be integrated over. Fixing as well would remove inequivalent values of the proper-time modulus; it is legitimate only if the parameter interval is allowed to vary instead. The name proper-time modulus refers to the Schwinger proper-time parameter; after eliminating , the geometric proper length for a massive on-shell trajectory is in this normalization.
For the gauge fixing functional , its variation is . The Faddeev-Popov determinant is consequentlyThe Grassmann Gaussian integral represents this determinant using anticommuting Faddeev-Popov ghost fields :The phase and normalization of the determinant depend on the measure convention. Its domain carries the chosen boundary conditions: on an interval the constant modulus is excluded from the gauge-fixed directions, and on a periodic worldline the constant ghost zero mode in field theory is removed with the residual gauge volume treated separately. A bare determinant with such zero modes left in would vanish.
Proper-time modulus 2026-10-05
The constant mode of the worldline einbein is not removed by gauge transformations whose parameters vanish at the ends of a fixed interval. This Schwinger proper-time parameter remains integrated over after gauge fixing. For , the geometric on-shell proper length is .
Relativistic particle phase-space action 2026-10-05
The worldline einbein imposes the relativistic mass-shell condition. With the Minkowski metric of signature , its first-class constraint is .