Canonical quantization of spontaneously broken topologically massive gauge theory

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the canonical quantization of a non-Abelian topologically massive Chern-Simons theory in which the gauge fields are minimally coupled to a multiplet of scalar fields in such a way that the gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken. Such a model produces the Chern-Simons-Higgs mechanism in which the gauge excitations acquire mass both from the Chern-Simons term and from the Higgs-Kibble effect. The symmetry breaking is chosen to be only partially broken, in such a way that in the broken vacuum there remains a residual non-Abelian symmetry. We develop the canonical operator structure of this theory in the broken vacuum, with particular emphasis on the particle-content of the fields involved in the Chern-Simons-Higgs mechanism. We construct the Fock space and express the dynamical generators in terms of creation and annihilation operator modes. The canonical apparatus is used to obtain the propagators for this theory, and we use the Poincaré generators to demonstrate the effect of Lorentz boosts on the particle states.