Field dependent nilpotent symmetry for gauge theories

Abstract

We construct the field dependent mixed BRST (combination of BRST and anti-BRST) transformations for pure gauge theories. These are shown to be an exact nilpotent symmetry of the effective action as well as the generating functional for certain choices of the field dependent parameters. We show that the Jacobian contributions for path integral measure in the definition of generating functional arising from BRST and anti-BRST part compensate each other. The field dependent mixed BRST transformations are also considered in the field/antifield formulation to show that the solutions of quantum master equation remain invariant under these. Our results are supported by several explicit examples. © 2012 Springer-Verlag / Società Italiana di Fisica.