Symplectic reduction of Yang-Mills theory with boundaries: from superselection sectors to edge modes, and back

I develop a theory of symplectic reduction that applies to bounded regions in electromagnetism and Yang--Mills theories. In this theory gauge-covariant superselection sectors for the electric flux through the boundary of the region play a central role: within such sectors, there exists a natural, canonically defined, symplectic structure for the reduced Yang--Mills theory. This symplectic structure does not require the inclusion of any new degrees of freedom. In the non-Abelian case, it also supports a family of Hamiltonian vector fields, which I call ``flux rotations,'' generated by smeared, Poisson-non-commutative, electric fluxes. Since the action of flux rotations affects the total energy of the system, I argue that flux rotations fail to be dynamical symmetries of Yang--Mills theory restricted to a region. I also consider the possibility of defining a symplectic structure on the union of all superselection sectors. This in turn requires including additional boundary degrees of freedom aka ``edge modes.'' However, I argue that a commonly used phase space extension by edge modes is inherently ambiguous and gauge-breaking.

Integrability of Point-Vortex Dynamics via Symplectic Reduction: A Survey

Point-vortex dynamics describe idealized, non-smooth solutions to the incompressible Euler equations on two-dimensional manifolds. Integrability results for few point-vortices on various domains is a vivid topic, with many results and techniques scattered in the literature. Here, we give a unified framework for proving integrability results for $$N=2$$ N = 2 , 3, or 4 point-vortices (and also more general Hamiltonian systems), based on symplectic reduction theory. The approach works on any two-dimensional manifold with a symmetry group; we illustrate it on the sphere, the plane, the hyperbolic plane, and the flat torus. A systematic study of integrability is prompted by advances in two-dimensional turbulence, bridging the long-time behaviour of 2D Euler equations with questions of point-vortex integrability. A gallery of solutions is given in the appendix.

Covariant reduction of classical Hamiltonian Field Theories: From D’Alembert to Klein–Gordon and Schrödinger

A novel reduction procedure for covariant classical field theories, reflecting the generalized symplectic reduction theory of Hamiltonian systems, is presented. The departure point of this reduction procedure consists in the choice of a submanifold of the manifold of solutions of the equations describing a field theory. Then, the covariance of the geometrical objects involved, will allow to define equations of motion on a reduced space. The computation of the canonical geometrical structure is performed neatly by using the geometrical framework provided by the multisymplectic description of covariant field theories. The procedure is illustrated by reducing the D’Alembert theory on a five-dimensional Minkowski space-time to a massive Klein–Gordon theory in four dimensions and, more interestingly, to the Schrödinger equation in 3 + 1 dimensions.

Stacky Hamiltonian Actions and Symplectic Reduction

We introduce the notion of a Hamiltonian action of an étale Lie group stack on an étale symplectic stack and establish versions of the Kirwan convexity theorem, the Meyer–Marsden–Weinstein symplectic reduction theorem, and the Duistermaat–Heckman theorem in this context.