Structural Aspects of Two-Dimensional Anomalous Gauge Theories

Annals Phys. 269 (1998) 1-25 A foundational investigation of the basic structural properties of two-dimensional anomalous gauge theories is performed. The Hilbert space is constructed as the representation of the intrinsic local field algebra generated by the fundamental set of field operators whose Wightman functions define the model. We examine the effect of the use of a redundant field algebra in deriving basic properties of the models and show that different results may arise, as regards the physical properties of the generalized chiral model, in restricting or not the Hilbert space as representation of the intrinsic local field algebra. The question referring to considering the vector Schwinger model as a limit of the generalized anomalous model is also discussed. We show that this limit can only be consistently defined for a field subalgebra of the generalized model.