BV quantization in perturbative algebraic QFT: Fundamental concepts and perspectives

Abstract: This paper is mainly based on the talk I presented at the meeting "The Philosophy and Physics of Noether's Theorems" that took place 5-6 October 2018, but it also contains some original results that were inspired by discussions with mathematicians, physicists and philosophers about the problem of understanding the intrinsic meaning of gauge invariance. In this work, I argue that following the principles of locality, deformation and homology, one naturally ends up using the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) formalism in quantizing gauge theories. I start with the gentle introduction into the BV framework and then I proceed to some new results and more speculative deliberations. In the classical theory, I present a new perspective on the classical BV operator, using the notion of Moller maps. In the quantum theory, I present some loose ideas on the formulation of anomalous master Ward identity in the framework proposed recently by Buchholz and Fredenhagen, based on local S-matrices.