Comment on "Gauge Symmetries and Dirac Conjecture" by Y.-L. Wang, Z.-P. Li, K. Wang and some other counterexamples to the Dirac conjecture

Abstract

We argue that the conclusion about the invalidity of the Dirac conjecture, made in the paper by Wang, Li, and Wang (Int. J. Theor. Phys. 48 1894, 2009), was based upon a flawed analysis of the proposed counterexamples. In the case of the Maxwell theory, the well-known gauge symmetry is contradicted by the results in the Hamiltonian and Lagrangian approaches presented by the authors. We also consider the oldest counterexample to the Dirac conjecture due to Allcock and present its natural parametrization.