Superselection, boundary algebras, and duality in gauge theories

Abstract

We consider the generators of gauge transformations with test functions which do not vanish on the boundary of a spacelike region of interest. These are known to generate the edge degrees of freedom in a gauge theory. In this paper, we augment these by introducing the dual or magnetic analog of such operators. We then study the algebra of these operators, focusing on implications for the superselection sectors of the gauge theory. A manifestly duality-invariant action is also considered, from which alternate descriptions which are $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ transforms of each other can be obtained. We also comment on a number of issues related to local charges, definition of confinement and the appearance of interesting mathematical structures such as the Drinfel'd double and the Manin triple.