Faddeev-Popov Ghost and BRST Symmetry in Yang-Mills Theory

Abstract

Ghost fields arise from the quantization of the gauge field with constraints (gauge fixing) through the path integral method. By substituting a form of identity, an effective propagator will be obtained from the gauge field with constraints and this is called the Faddeev-Popov method. The Grassmann odd properties of the ghost field cause the gauge transformation parameter to be Grassmann odd, so a BRST transformation is defined. Ghost field emergence with Grassmann odd properties can also be obtained through the least action principle with gauge transformation, and thus the relations between the BRST transformation parameters and the ghost field is obtained.