Speaker
Mr
Mojtaba Taslimitehrani
(Universität Leipzig)
Description
Classical Yang-Mills theory is background-independent in the sense that splitting the gauge connection into a background connection and a dynamical vector potential is a symmetry of the theory. I will talk about a definition of background independence in (perturbative) quantum YM
theory, that is the preservation of this symmetry at the quantum level. In a geometrical formulation, we define background-independent observables as flat sections of an algebra bundle over the manifold of background configurations, with respect to a flat connection which implements background variations. It turns out that background independence at the quantum level is in general violated by potential obstructions. I will discuss such obstructions for YM theory and will remark on perturbative quantum gravity. (Joint work with Jochen Zahn).
