Some aspects of the quantization ofp-forms and reducible gauge theories

Abstract

The quantization of thep-form inD dimensions is carried out according to both an extension of the BRST formalism and a method due to A. S. Schwarz. The latter yields a suggestive interpretation of the role of nonphysical fields in the quantization of reducible gauge theories. The introduction of gauge conditions of a different type (namely self-dual) modifies the ghost spectrum but does not affect the partition function.