Triplectic quantization: A geometrically covariant description of the Sp(2)-symmetric Lagrangian formalism

Abstract

A geometric description is given for the Sp(2) covariant version of the field-antifield quantization of general constrained systems in the Lagrangian formalism. We develop differential geometry on manifolds in which a basic set of coordinates (“fields”) have two superpartners (“antifields”). The quantization on such a triplectic manifold requires introducing several specific differential-geometric objects, whose properties we study. These objects are then used to impose a set of generalized master equations that ensure gauge-independence of the path integral. The theory thus quantized is shown to extend to a level-1 theory formulated on a manifold that includes antifields to the Lagrange multipliers. We also observe intriguing relations between triplectic and ordinary symplectic geometry.