Ward identities for Yang-Mills theory in Abelian gauges: Abelian dominance at high energies

Abstract

We consider Yang-Mills theory in a general class of Abelian gauges. Exploiting the residual Abelian symmetry on a quantum level, we derive a set of Ward identities in functional form, valid to all orders in perturbation theory. As a consequence, the coupling constant is only renormalised through the Abelian two-point function. This implies that asymptotic freedom in all Abelian gauges can be understood from an effective Abelian theory alone, which can be interpreted as Abelian dominance in the high energy regime.