Interpretation of the topological terms in gauge system

Abstract

We provide an alternative interpretation for the topological terms in physics by investigating the low-energy gauge interacting system. The asymptotic behavior of the gauge field at infinity indicates that it traces out a closed loop in the infinite time interval: -infinity, + infinity. Adopting Berry's argument of geometric phase, we show that the adiabatic evolution of the gauge system around the loop results in an additional term to the effective action: the Chern-Simons term for three-dimensional spacetime, and the Pontrjagin term for the four-dimensional spacetime.