Gauge Vector Masses from Flat Connections?

Abstract

We suggest that four dimensional massive gauge vectors could be described by coupling ordinary Yang-Mills theory to a topological gauge theory. For this the coupling should excite a nontrivial degree of freedom from the topological theory, corresponding to the longitudinal polarization of a massive gauge vector. If the coupling can be selected so that further degrees of freedom are not excited, one may entirely avoid particles such as the Higgs. Here we discuss a simple example of this idea, obtained by coupling standard Yang-Mills theory to the topological gauge theory of flat connections. We propose that our example might describe a renormalizable theory of massive gauge vectors with no additional physical degrees of freedom.