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Abelian p-Form (p = 1, 2, 3) Gauge Theories as the Field Theoretic Models for the Hodge Theory

Taking the simple examples of an Abelian 1-form gauge theory in two (1 + 1)-dimensions, a 2-form gauge theory in four (3 + 1)-dimensions and a 3-form gauge theory in six (5 + 1)-dimensions of spacetime, we establish that such gauge theories respect, in addition to the gauge symmetry transformations that are generated by the first-class constraints of the theory, additional continuous symmetry transformations. We christen the latter symmetry transformations as the dual-gauge transformations. We generalize the above gauge and dual-gauge transformations to obtain the proper (anti-)BRST and (anti-)dual-BRST transformations for the Abelian 3-form gauge theory within the framework of BRST formalism. We concisely mention such symmetries for the 2D free Abelian 1-form and 4D free Abelian 2-form gauge theories and briefly discuss their topological aspects in our present endeavor. We conjecture that any arbitrary Abelian p-form gauge theory would respect the above cited additional symmetry in D = 2p (p = 1, 2, 3,...) dimensions of spacetime. By exploiting the above inputs, we establish that the Abelian 3-form gauge theory, in six (5 + 1)-dimensions of spacetime, is a perfect model for the Hodge theory whose discrete and continuous symmetry transformations provide the physical realizations of all aspects of the de Rham cohomological operators of differential geometry. As far as the physical utility of the above nilpotent symmetries is concerned, we demonstrate that the 2D Abelian 1-form gauge theory is a perfect model of a new class of topological theory and 4D Abelian 2-form as well as 6D Abelian 3-form gauge theories are the field theoretic models for the quasi-topological field theory.