On the evaluation of the Ray-Singer torsion path integral

Abstract

Abstract There are very few explicit evaluations of path integrals for topological gauge theories in more than 3 dimensions. Here we provide such a calculation for the path integral representation of the Ray-Singer Torsion of a flat connection on a vector bundle on base manifolds that are themselves S 1 bundles of any dimension. The calculation relies on a suitable algebraic choice of gauge which leads to a convenient factorisation of the path integral into horizontal and vertical parts.

Keywords

• Gauge Symmetry
• Topological Field Theories