Abelian Duality and Abelian Wilson Loops

Abstract

We consider a pure U(1) quantum gauge field theory on a general Riemannian compact four manifold. We compute the partition function with Abelian Wilson loop insertions. We find its duality covariance properties and derive topological selection rules. Finally, we show that, to have manifest duality, one must assume the existence of twisted topological sectors besides the standard untwisted one.