Henneaux-Teitelboim gauge symmetry and its applications to higher gauge theories

Abstract

When discussing the gauge symmetries of any theory, the Henneaux-Teitelboim transformations are often underappreciated or even completely ignored, due to their on-shell triviality. Nevertheless, these gauge transformations play an important role in understanding the structure of the full gauge symmetry group of any theory, especially regarding the subgroup of diffeomorphisms. We give a review of the Henneaux-Teitelboim transformations and the resulting gauge group in the general case, and then discuss its role in the applications to the class of topological theories called nBF models, relevant for the constructions of higher gauge theories and quantum gravity.