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Degrees of freedom of classical fields

Sergei Winitzki
(Dated: DRAFT December 3, 2006)
This is a pedagogical account of the concept of “independent degrees of freedom” for classical
fields. I propose two definitions and show how to compute the number of degrees of freedom for the
electromagnetic and the gravitational fields.

I. DEGREES OF FREEDOM IN MECHANICS a straightforward definition of DOF and later consider a


AND IN FIELD THEORY different meaning of “DOF” and give a second definition.
Definition 1: A field has n DOF if its physical states
In classical mechanics, one says that a system has n can be unambiguously described by n real-valued func-
degrees of freedom if it can be unambiguously described tions of space and time, and no fewer number of functions
by specifying n real-valued functions of time q1 (t), ..., of space and time can suffice.
qn (t), called generalized coordinates, and if it cannot be According to this definition, a scalar field has one
described by a fewer number of coordinates. (Of course, DOF, while a vector field, such as Aµ , has four DOF
a system can always be described by a larger number of because the four components A0 , A1 , A2 , A3 are real-
coordinates than strictly necessary.) For example, two valued functions. However, this conclusion is not quite
point masses m1 , m2 moving in three-dimensional space correct for the electromagnetic field because of the gauge
and connected by a rigid, infinitely thin massless rod invariance of electrodynamics. A gauge transformation
comprise a mechanical system with five degrees of free- changes Aµ (t, x) to another function,
dom. The state of this system can be specified by the
values of three Euclidean coordinates x1 , y1 , z1 of the Aµ (t, x) → õ (t, x) = Aµ (t, x) + ∂µ α(t, x), (2)
first point mass and two spherical angles φ, θ describing
the orientation of the rod. where α(t, x) is an arbitrary function of space and time.
To compute the number of degrees of freedom (DOF) However, the physically observable effects of the fields
in a mechanical system, one starts with a description of Aµ and õ are the same, i.e. we cannot distinguish be-
the system in some set of generalized coordinates, looks tween the states of the electromagnetic field described by
at the equations of motion, and determines the number Aµ and õ . In other words, the two different functions
of independent integration constants needed to describe Aµ (t, x) and õ (t, x) describe the same physical state of
the general solution. This number is equal to twice the the electromagnetic field. Since the gauge freedom con-
number of the DOF. (The factor 2 comes from having co- tains an arbitrary function of space and time, we expect
ordinates qi and velocities q̇i for each DOF.) For example, that the electromagnetic field actually has fewer than four
the equations of motion DOF.
In the particular case of the gauge transformation (2),
ẍ = y, ÿ = 1 (1) it is easy to see that the function α can be chosen to
set A0 (t, x) = 0. The remaining three functions form a
allow four independent constants of integration, and 3-vector potential A ≡ (A1 , A2 , A3 ) and are still subject
therefore the system has two degrees of freedom. to the residual gauge freedom,
The computation of the DOF in mechanics is relatively
simple because every system is made of a finite number of A(t, x) → Ã(t, x) = A(t, x) + ∇α(x). (3)
point masses. In field theory, the basic object of descrip-
tion is not a point mass but a field which is a function of However, the function α now may depend only on x (but
space and time. For example, the state of a scalar field not on t). We only count functions of all four coordinates,
(e.g. charge density) is described by a function ρ(t, x), and thus the residual gauge transformations (3) do not
while an electromagnetic field can be described by the reduce the effective number of the DOF. We conclude
4-vector potential Aµ (t, x). According to the definition that the electromagnetic field has three DOF. In Defini-
used in mechanics, any field has infinitely many degrees tion 1, the phrase “physical states” must be understood
of freedom since one needs infinitely many functions of as “field configurations up to gauge freedom.”
time (such as Aµ (t, x1 ), Aµ (t, x2 ), etc., for every possible
vector x) to describe the states of the system. One would
like to have a more discriminating definition of the DOF, II. DEGREES OF FREEDOM IN VACUUM
so that different fields can be distinguished by their num-
ber of DOF. For instance, we would like to say that the In some situations, it is necessary to consider a more
scalar field ρ(t, x) has “fewer” DOF than the vector field restrictive definition of the number of DOF. In partic-
Aµ . ular, care should be taken when dealing with fields in
Indeed, the definition of DOF in field theory is different backgrounds or those having higher-order equations of
from that in ordinary mechanics. We shall first consider motion.
2

An important issue is to describe vacuum solutions, changes the amplitude by aµ → aµ + λkµ , where λ is
i.e. nontrivial solutions in the absence of sources. For an arbitrary constant. Now the term αkµ in Eq. (7) can
example, electromagnetic waves are vacuum solutions of be removed by a gauge transformation (8) with λ = −α,
electrodynamics because these solutions can propagate in and the remaining freedom in choosing the amplitude aµ
vacuum, in the absence of any charges or currents. We ex- consists of choosing the two coefficients β, γ. Thus the
pect that in a given theory there are infinitely many vac- admissible plane waves of the form (6) are described by
uum solutions and that all these solutions are described just two free parameters.
by a certain number of arbitrary functions. This num- We are getting near the (correct) conclusion that the
ber is what we call the number of vacuum DOF. We shall vacuum solutions of the Maxwell equations have only two
first count the number of vacuum DOF for electrodynam- DOF. However, this conclusion is not yet fully justified
ics and then formulate a more general definition which is because the plane waves of the form (6) are not the only
applicable also to nonlinear field theories such as general possible vacuum solutions. Let us therefore imagine the
relativity. set of all vacuum solutions and try to analyze the struc-
ture of this set.
Since Eq. (4) with jµ = 0 is linear in Aµ and homo-
A. Vacuum DOF in electrodynamics geneous, all vacuum solutions form a linear space (linear
combinations of vacuum solutions are again vacuum so-
The 4-vector potential Aµ (t, x) is a solution of the lutions). This linear space is infinite-dimensional because
Maxwell equations which may be written as there are infinitely many independent vacuum solutions;
for instance, all plane waves (6) with different null vec-
∂ν ∂ ν Aµ − ∂µ (∂ ν Aν ) = jµ , (4) tors kµ are linearly independent. A general vacuum solu-
(vac)
tion Aµ (x) is an arbitrary superposition of plane waves
where jµ (t, x) is the 4-vector describing the sources
with different amplitudes and different (null) wave vec-
(charges and currents). Note that the current jµ must
tors kµ ≡ (k, k),
satisfy the conservation law Z
(vac)
Aµ (x) = d3 k eikµ x ak ,
µ
∂ µ jµ = 0, (5) (9)

which follows from Eq. (4) by applying ∂ µ to both sides; if where ak are arbitrary k-dependent amplitudes. To ob-
the current jµ is not conserved, Eq. (4) cannot be solved. tain a useful description of the space of vacuum solutions,
We shall now consider the vacuum situation, jµ = 0. we need to somehow reduce this huge space to a finite-
An example of a vacuum solution is the plane wave dimensional vector space. Let us consider the values of
(vac)
the vacuum solution Aµ (x0 ) at a fixed spacetime point
Aµ (t, x) = aµ cos (kν xν ) , (6) (vac)
x0 ≡ (t0 , x0 ). The set of values Aµ (x0 ) for all possible
(vac)
where aν is a 4-vector describing the amplitude of the vacuum solutions Aµ comprises a vector space because
wave and kν is the wave vector. Let us find the number electrodynamics obeys the superposition principle. This
of independent solutions of the form (6). By substitut- vector space is a subspace of the 4-dimensional vector
ing into Eq. (4) with jµ = 0 one can verify that the space of all possible 4-vectors Aµ (t0 , x0 ). Of course, the
ansatz (6) is a vacuum solution only if kν k ν = 0 and dimension of this subspace does not depend on the cho-
aν k ν = 0, i.e. kµ must be a null 4-vector and aµ must sen point (t0 , x0 ) because the equations of motion are
be orthogonal to kµ . All 4-vectors aµ orthogonal to kµ invariant under spacetime translations. This motivates
form a three-dimensional subspace spanned by kµ itself us to consider the following tentative definition.
and two spacelike vectors that we shall denote lµ and mµ . Definition 2: A field has n vacuum DOF if the val-
To find the components of the vectors lµ and mµ explic- ues of all permissible vacuum solutions at a fixed point
itly, consider the components of the vector kµ ≡ (k0 , k) (t0 , x0 ) comprise a vector space of dimension n.
and choose any pair of 3-vectors l, m which are orthogo- In the next section we shall describe a more straightfor-
nal to each other and to the 3-vector k; then the vectors ward way to compute the number of DOF from this def-
lµ ≡ (0, l) and mµ ≡ (0, m) are orthogonal to each other inition. The key ingredient will be to perform a Fourier
and to kµ . Therefore the admissible vacuum solutions of transformation on the field.
the form (6) must have the amplitude vector aµ of the
form
B. Computing the vacuum DOF via the Fourier
aµ = αkµ + βlµ + γmµ , (7) transform

where α, β, γ are constant coefficients (which are so far The equations of motion (4) are linear differential equa-
arbitrary). Furthermore, a gauge transformation of the tions with constant coefficients, so their Fourier trans-
form form can be written as
Aµ → Aµ + ∂µ [λ sin (kν xν )] (8) −kν k ν õ (k) + kµ k ν Ãν (k) = j̃µ , (10)
3

where õ (k) and j̃µ (k) are the four-dimensional Fourier and thus is not a physically nontrivial vacuum solution.
transforms of the 4-potential Aµ (t, x) and the 4-current (We call a solution physically trivial if it is gauge equiv-
jµ (t, x). The functions õ (k) and j̃µ (k) are usually called alent to the trivial solution Aµ = 0.)
the Fourier modes of the field and the current. The vac- Our conclusion is that the space of vacuum solutions
uum equations (with j̃µ = 0) can be written as for electrodynamics is two-dimensional. We have ob-
tained this result solely by analyzing the dimension of
kµ k ν − k 2 δµν Ãν ≡ Wµν Ãν = 0, a certain finite-dimensional vector space that we con-

(11)
structed as the factor space of the vacuum solutions by
where Wµν (k) is a “matrix” that depends on kµ and we the pure gauge subspace.
write k 2 ≡ kµ k µ . It is clear that the solutions of the
homogeneous equation (11) comprise a linear subspace S
C. Vacuum DOF in general relativity
of the initial four-dimensional space of values of õ , and
that the dimensionality of the subspace S will depend on
the 4-vector kµ . Therefore it will be convenient to analyze General relativity describes the dynamical geometry
the solutions at a fixed kµ . In the physical space, these of the spacetime through the metric gµν (x). We shall
solutions correspond to plane waves with a fixed wave consider the situation when the geometry is almost flat
vector kµ . except for small gravitational perturbations, so that in
Note that õ = λkµ (where λ is a scalar function of appropriate coordinate systems we have
kµ ) is always a solution of Eq. (11), and thus the one-
gµν (x) = ηµν + hµν (x), |hµν | ≪ 1. (15)
dimensional subspace hkµ i spanned by the vector kµ is
always a subspace of S. But note that the gauge trans- The coordinate transformations
formations (2) are equivalent to
xµ → xµ + ξ µ (x) (16)
õ → õ − ikµ α̃. (12)
  play the role of gauge transformations in this theory. If
Since all solutions of the form õ + λkµ are gauge we consider only transformations with very small ξ, then
equivalent, the space of physically relevant indepen- to first order we may write the gauge transformation for
dent solutions are found as a factorspace of S by the hµν as
one-dimensional subspace spanned by the vector kµ ,
hµν → hµν + ξµ,ν + ξν,µ . (17)
i.e. Sphys = S/ hkµ i. The subspace hkµ i is thus the sub-
space of pure gauge solutions, i.e. solutions that are not Note that we do not need to employ covariant derivatives
physically different from õ = 0. such as ξµ;ν because the difference between the covariant
To analyze the space S of solutions of Eq. (11) at a and the ordinary derivatives is of second order in the
fixed kµ , it suffices to consider two cases: k 2 6= 0 and perturbations.
k 2 = 0. If k 2 6= 0, Eq. (11) gives The symmetric tensor hµν has 10 independent com-
ponents, but not all of them are physically significant,
Ãν k ν and the number of independent components is further
õ = kµ = akµ , (13)
k2 reduced by the equations of motion. In this section we
shall compute the number of DOF in the gravitational
where a is some constant. However, this solution is en-
perturbations.
tirely within the gauge subspace and thus there are no
The vacuum equations of motion can be written as
nontrivial vacuum solutions for k 2 6= 0. In the remain-
Gµν = 0. Since Rµν = Gµν − 21 Ggµν , we may also write
ing case k 2 = 0 (but kµ 6= 0), we have õ k µ = 0 and
the vacuum equations in the form Rµν = 0 which is a
thus õ belongs to the three-dimensional subspace of 4- little simpler. A calculation shows that the Ricci tensor
vectors orthogonal to kµ . We have analyzed this subspace Rµν is expressed through the metric perturbation hµν as
above and found its basis in the form (kµ , lµ , mµ ) with
the decomposition (7). In other words, S = hkµ , lµ , mµ i 2Rµν = η αβ (hµα,νβ + hνα,µβ ) − hµν − h,µν , (18)
and therefore the factorspace S/ hkµ i = hlµ , mµ i is two-
dimensional. where  = η αβ ∂α ∂β and h ≡ η αβ hαβ . It is convenient at
Finally, we note that the mode with the zero wavenum- this point to perform a Fourier transform in all spacetime
ber kµ = 0 (called the zero mode) corresponds to the coordinates and consider the Fourier images h̃µν and ξ˜µ .
(0)
homogeneous solution Aµ (t, x) = Aµ = const, i.e. the Then the equation of motion Rµν = 0 and the gauge
4-potential Aµ is constant in space and time. This solu- transformation (17) are rewritten as
tion can be reduced to Aµ = 0 by a gauge transformation  
of the form − h̃µα kν + h̃να kµ k α + k 2 h̃µν + h̃kµ kν = 0, (19)
 
Aµ → Aµ − ∂µ A(0) ν x ν
(14) h̃µν → h̃µν + kµ ξ˜ν + kν ξ̃µ . (20)
4

We have thus obtained a linear, homogeneous equa- Using the relation sµ ≡ h̃µν k ν = 0, we may simplify
tion for the 10 independent components of h̃µν and addi- the equation of motion (19) to
tionally a gauge equivalence relation containing four free
parameters ξ˜µ . In principle we may now consider a 10- h̃kµ kν + k 2 h̃µν = 0. (27)
dimensional linear space consisting of these independent
components Qi , i = 1, ..., 10, and rewrite the equation of Computing the scalar product of Eq. (27) with k µ , we
motion and the gauge equivalence relation in the matrix find h̃kµ k 2 = 0 and thus h̃ = 0. Substituting this into
form, Eq. (27), we obtain k 2 h̃µν = 0 and finally h̃µν = 0. Thus
there are no physically nontrivial solutions of the vacuum
Fij Qi = 0, Qi → Qi + Giµ ξµ , (21) equations when k 2 6= 0.
In the case k 2 = 0 (but kα 6= 0), we cannot perform
where Fij and Giµ are suitable 10×10 and 10×4 matrices. the gauge transformations as above and need to take a
The solutions of the equation Fij Qi = 0 form a subspace different approach. The trace h̃ changes under a gauge
S in the 10-dimensional space; for a given solution Qi(0) ∈ transformation as
S, the solutions that are gauge equivalent to Qi(0) differ
by a vector from the pure gauge subspace G ⊂ S. The h̃ → h̃ + 2ξ˜α k α . (28)
problem of counting the DOF is then reduced to finding
the dimensions of these subspaces S and G ⊂ S, which is Thus we may set h̃ = 0 after a suitable gauge transfor-
a standard problem in finite-dimensional linear algebra. mation. There will remain the freedom to perform gauge
The number of DOF is then dim S − dim G. transformations with vectors ξ̃α such that ξ̃α k α = 0.
The calculations are thus made entirely straightfor- After setting h̃ = 0, we simplify the equation of mo-
ward but cumbersome. Rather than write the matrices tion (19) to
Fij and Giµ explicitly, we shall simplify the equations
sµ kν + sν kµ = 0, sµ ≡ h̃µν k ν . (29)
for h̃µν in the tensor notation, use the gauge equivalence
relations, and arrive to the answer more easily. Since the vector kµ 6= 0, the equation (29) has no
First consider the 4-vector sµ ≡ h̃αµ k α . Under a gauge other solutions except sµ = 0. [To verify this, one first
transformation, the vector sµ changes as computes a scalar product with a vector aµ such that
aµ k µ = −1; the vector aµ exists as long as kµ 6= 0. Then
sµ → sµ + ξ˜µ k 2 + ξ̃α k α kµ , (22) one obtains sν = (sµ aµ ) kν and thus the vectors sµ and
kµ are parallel, sµ = λkµ . Then the substitution into
and the scalar product sµ k µ = h̃µν k µ k ν transforms as Eq. (29) gives λ = 0.]
Thus we have reduced the equations of motion and the
sµ k µ → sµ k µ + 2k 2 ξ̃α k α . (23) gauge equivalence relation to
This transformation is trivial if k 2 = 0, so it appears h̃ ≡ h̃µν η µν = 0, h̃µν k ν = 0, (30)
that we need to consider the cases k 2 6= 0 and k 2 = 0
separately. h̃µν → h̃µν + kµ ξ˜ν + kν ξ̃µ , ξ̃µ k µ = 0. (31)
If k 2 6= 0, then we can always find a vector ξ̃α such
At this point we could introduce an explicit basis in the
that
4-dimensional space and find the remaining independent
sµ k µ components, but we shall instead proceed without choos-
ξ̃α k α = − , (24) ing a basis. The equations (30) represent 5 constraints
2k 2
on the 10 independent components of h̃µν and thus we
and then sµ k µ vanishes after the gauge transforma- can expect the space of solutions to be 5-dimensional.
tion (23). After performing this gauge transformation, The gauge equivalence relations are parametrized by the
we still have the freedom to perform additional gauge vector ξ̃µ which is constrained to remain orthogonal to
transformations with vectors ξ̃α such that ξ̃α k α = 0. The k µ ; such vectors form a 3-dimensional space. Thus it ap-
vector sµ would change under such a transformation as pears that there are 5 − 3 = 2 independent DOF. The
remaining task is to verify that the subspace of solutions
sµ → sµ + k 2 ξ̃µ . (25) of Eq. (30) and the pure gauge subspace are indeed 5-
dimensional and 3-dimensional respectively.
Therefore we may set sµ = 0 by choosing
The subspace S of solutions of the five constraints (30)
sµ will have more than 10 − 5 = 5 dimensions if the con-
ξ̃µ = − ; (26) straints were not independent, i.e. if there exists a vanish-
k2
ing linear combination of the constraints. This is equiv-
note that this gauge transformation is allowed since we alent to the existence of five coefficients A, B µ , not all
already have set sµ k µ = 0. After performing this last equal to zero, such that
gauge transformation, we have no more remaining gauge
freedom. Aη µν + B µ k ν = 0. (32)
5

The scalar product of Eq. (32) with kν yields A = 0 and that the metric is approximately given by Eq. (15). Then
then the scalar product with any vector aµ such that the reasoning shown in this section will apply to all modes
aµ k µ 6= 0 yields B µ = 0. Therefore the constraints (30) with sufficiently small wavelengths, and we shall again
are linearly independent and the space S has dimension find two vacuum DOF. The number of DOF is defined as
five. the dimension of space of solutions restricted to the point
Now we shall verify that the gauge equivalence reduces (t0 , x0 ) and is independent of the chosen neighborhood
this five-dimensional space to a two-dimensional factor of that point (and of the choice of the point itself).
space. The gauge transformations (31) are compatible In the next section we shall generalize this construction
with the constraints (30) in the sense that the gauge- to an arbitrary nonlinear field theory and show that the
transformed solutions always satisfy the constraints. number of vacuum DOF can be computed in essentially
(0)
Given a solution h̃µν of the constraints (30), we may the same way in all such theories.
consider the set of gauge-transformed solutions

h̃(0)
µν + ξ̃µ kν + ξ̃ν kµ . (33) D. Vacuum DOF in nonlinear field theories

This set is an (affine) space and we would like to show The definition of vacuum DOF and the calculation in
that this space has dimension three. The admissible vec- the previous sections relied on the fact that the Maxwell
tors ξ̃µ must be orthogonal to k µ and thus form a three- equations are linear in the fields and that the solutions
dimensional space. So the space of gauge-transformed so- form a vector space. For nonlinear field theories (e.g. gen-
lutions (33) cannot be more than three-dimensional, but eral relativity) we therefore need to slightly modify our
it might be less than three-dimensional if some gauge- definition of DOF and the corresponding computational
(0)
transformed solutions coincide with h̃µν . This however procedure.
cannot happen since the tensor ξ˜µ kν + ξ˜ν kµ is never zero Consider a field theory with a field Qi having N real-
for ξ˜µ 6= 0 and kµ 6= 0. Therefore the space of gauge- valued components (i = 1, ..., N ); for instance, in gen-
equivalent solutions is always a three-dimensional affine eral relativity the “field” is the metric gµν (x) which has
subspace of S, and the remaining physically independent 10 independent components. We shall assume that all
space has dimension two. independent components of all relevant fields are incor-
Finally, we shall consider the last remaining case kµ = porated into the single “field” Qi . Suppose that the field
0 (the zero mode). This perturbation mode corresponds Qi (x) satisfies some nonlinear equations of motion of the
(0) form
to the space-independent perturbation hµν (x) = hµν =
const. One can show that this perturbation is pure gauge,
F ∂αβ Qi , ∂α Qi , Qi = 0,

i.e. is gauge-equivalent to the zero perturbation. For in- (36)
stance, one can perform a gauge transformation
where F (·, ·, ·) is some function. We have explicitly as-
hµν → hµν + ξµ,ν + ξν,µ (34) sumed that the equations of motion are second-order in
derivatives of Qi , which is usually the case in field the-
with ories.1 The field theory may also admit gauge transfor-
mations of the form
1
ξµ = − h(0) xν , (35)
2 µν Qi (x) → Gi (∂α Qi (x), Qi (x), a(x)), (37)
which will change hµν (x) = h0µν
into zero. where Gi (·, ·, ·) is some function and a(x) is the param-
The conclusion is that small metric perturbations in eter of the gauge transformation having an arbitrary de-
general relativity have two vacuum DOF and are limited pendence on x. At this moment we do not consider a
to modes with kα k α = 0, kα 6= 0. specific form of the functions F and G and merely gen-
This result was obtained using the equations of mo- eralize the consideration of DOF to an arbitrary theory
tion for metric perturbations hµν on a flat background of this form. Later we shall consider the vacuum DOF in
ηµν . A natural question is whether the number of vacuum general relativity.
DOF depends on the background: for instance, whether Using the analogy with electrodynamics where electro-
there are still two independent perturbation modes in magnetic waves are small perturbations of the vacuum
the neighborhood of a black hole. The answer is that the Aµ = 0, one can expect that the “vacuum degrees of free-
number of vacuum DOF does not depend on the back- dom” in the field theory (36) will be small perturbations
ground. of a “vacuum state.” Thus we are lead to assuming that
To understand this issue, let us consider a fixed space-
time point (t0 , x0 ). We expect that perturbations have
the same number of DOF at all points. To describe the
behavior of the perturbations, it is sufficient to impose 1 Below we shall consider fields with higher-order derivatives as
the equations of motion in a small neigborhood of (t0 , x0 ). well, but for now our considerations are valid only for fields with
We may choose the coordinates in this neighborhood such second-order equations of motion.
6

Eq. (36) admits a special “vacuum state,” i.e. a solution does not depend on the choice of the point (t0 , x0 ), we
Qivac (x) which is physically interpreted as the “absence” may choose (t0 , x0 ) such that all coefficients in Eqs. (38)-
of the field Qi . In electrodynamics the vacuum solution (40) evaluated at that point are finite and nonsingular.
is Aµ = 0, but in a more general nonlinear field theory Thus we can replace the original system of equations (38)-
the vacuum solution may be a nontrivial function. For (40) by linear equations in δQi with constant coefficients,
instance, the vacuum solution in general relativity is the evaluated at the point (t0 , x0 ),
flat Minkowski metric gµν (x) = ηµν .
Small perturbations δQi (x) of the vacuum solution FIµνi (x0 )∂µν δQi + FII
µi
(x0 )∂µ δQi + FIII
i
(x0 )δQi = 0,
i
Qvac (x) satisfy the linearized equation (36), namely
δQi (x) → δQi (x) + GiIII (x0 )a.
FIµνi ∂αβ Qivac , ∂α Qivac , Qivac ∂µν δQi


µi
The number of DOF in the field δQi can be determined
∂αβ Qivac , ∂α Qivac , Qivac ∂µ δQi

+FII using this latter system of equations, since these equa-
i
∂αβ Qivac , ∂α Qivac , Qivac δQi = 0, tions describe a field theory which is equivalent to the

+FIII (38)
original field theory in an infinitesimal neighborhood of
where FIµνi , FII
µi
, and FIIIi
are the partial derivatives of the point x0 ≡ (t0 , x0 ). We now apply the Fourier trans-
the function F (·, ·, ·) with respect to its first, second, and form and arrive to the equations
third
 arguments, and we have neglected terms of order h i
O (δQ)2 . The gauge transformation (37) induces the −FIµνj (x0 )kµ kν + ikµ FII
µj j
(x0 ) δ Q̃j = 0,

(x0 ) + FIII
corresponding transformation of the perturbation δQi , (41)
∂Gi ∂α Qivac , Qivac , a δ Q̃i → δ Q̃i + GiIII (x0 )ã. (42)

i i
δQ (x) → δQ (x) + a. (39)
∂a
These are now treated as finite-dimensional algebraic
However, we are now considering only infinitesimal per- equations depending on the parameter kµ and containing
turbations δQi and so we cannot allow the vacuum solu- an arbitrary scalar ã. Since Eq. (41) is homogeneous, its
tion Qivac (x) to be significantly changed by a gauge trans- solutions form a subspace S in the original N -dimensional
formation. Thus we need to consider the gauge freedom field space of vectors δ Q̃i . The gauge transformation (42)
only with respect to infinitesimal gauge transformations, generates a one-dimensional space P of “pure gauge” so-
where the gauge parameter a(x) is of the same order as lutions which is a subspace (possibly empty) within S.
the perturbation δQi . So we may approximate a ≈ 0 The number of DOF is found as the dimension of the
in the arguments of G in Eq. (39) because the error is space S modulo the pure gauge subspace, dim(S/P ).
second-order, and the gauge transformation of the per- The consideration is straightforwardly adapted to the
turbation δQi can be written as case when the gauge transformation contains several
scalar parameters aj (x), j = 1, 2, ... instead of a(x). Note
δQi (x) → δQi (x) + aGiIII ∂α Qivac , Qivac , a = 0 . (40)

that the dimensions of the spaces P and S depend on the
wave vector kµ and thus we need to enumerate all the pos-
Since Eq. (38) is linear in δQi and Eq. (40) is linear in δQi sibilities. Typically these possibilities will depend only on
and a, the solutions form a linear space and we could now the value of kµ k µ ; for instance, in electrodynamics and in
apply the construction developed in the previous sections general relativity the dimension of P/S is nonzero only
to compute the number of the DOF, considering the small for null vectors kµ .
perturbations δQi as the “main field.” Namely, the values
δQi (t0 , x0 ) at a fixed spacetime point (t0 , x0 ) the number
of DOF is equal to the dimension of the space S modulo
the gauge subspace. III. SUMMARY
To compute the number of DOF, we need to apply the
Fourier transform to Eqs. (38)-(40), but these are now There are two rather different questions one asks about
differential equations with nonconstant coefficients such the DOF of a physical field:
as FIiαβ (x). To overcome this difficulty, we note that the 1) How many different scalar-valued functions of space-
number of DOF is determined only by the behavior of time do we need to fully describe the physical states of
the field Qi in an arbitrarily small neighborhood of an the field? (Definition 1)
arbitrary point (t0 , x0 ). The coefficients FIiαβ (x), etc., 2) How many different vacuum solutions does the field
entering Eqs. (38)-(40), can be treated as constants in an have? (Definition 2)
infinitesimal neighborhood of (t0 , x0 ), as long as the fields In both cases one asks for the “degrees of freedom” but
are not singular at that point. Since the number of DOF one means two quite different things.

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