Gauging by St\"uckelberg field-shifting symmetry

Abstract

We embed second class constrained systems by a formalism that combines concepts of the BFFT method and the unfixing gauge formalism. As a result, we obtain a gauge-invariant system where the introduction of the Wess-Zumino (WZ) field is essential. The initial phase-space variables are gauging with the introduction of the WZ field, a procedure that resembles the St\"uckelberg field- shifting formalism. In some cases, it is possible to eliminate the WZ field and, therefore, obtain an invariant system written only as a function of the original phase-space variables. We apply this formalism to important physical models: the reduced-SU(2) Skyrme model and the two dimensional chiral bosons field theory. In these systems, the gauge-invariant Hamiltonians are derived in a very simple way when compared with other usual formalisms.