Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism in perturbative algebraic quantum field theory
Klaus Fredenhagen, Katarzyna Rejzner
October 24, 2011
On the basis of a thorough discussion of the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism for
classical field theory presented in our previous publication, we construct in
this paper the Batalin-Vilkovisky complex in perturbatively renormalized
quantum field theory. The crucial technical ingredient is a proof that the
renormalized time-ordered product is equivalent to the pointwise product of
classical field theory. The renormalized Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra is then the
classical algebra but written in terms of the time-ordered product, together
with an operator which replaces the ill defined graded Laplacian of the
unrenormalized theory. We identify it with the anomaly term of the anomalous
Master Ward Identity of Brennecke and D\"utsch. Contrary to other approaches we
do not refer to the path integral formalism and do not need to use
regularizations in intermediate steps.
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