The formulation of the nonlinear σ -model in terms of flat connection allows the construction of a perturbative solution of a local functional equation by means of cohomological techniques which are implemented in gauge theories. In this paper we discuss some properties of the solution at the one-loop level in D = 4. We prove the validity of a weak power-counting theorem in the following form: although the number of divergent amplitudes is infinite only a finite number of counterterms parameters have to be introduced in the effective action in order to make the theory finite at one loop, while respecting the functional equation (fully symmetric subtraction in the cohomological sense). The proof uses the linearized functional equation of which we provide the general solution in terms of local functionals. The counterterms are expressed in terms of linear combinations of these invariants and the coefficients are fixed by a finite number of divergent amplitudes. These latter amplitudes contain only insertions of the composite operators φ 0 (the constraint of the nonlinear σ -model) and F µ (the flat connection). The structure of the functional equation suggests a hierarchy of the Green functions. In particular once the amplitudes for the composite operators φ 0 and F µ are given all the others can be derived by functional derivatives. In this paper we show that at one loop the renormalization of the theory is achieved by the subtraction of divergences of the amplitudes at the top of the hierarchy. As an example we derive the counterterms for the four-point amplitudes.

We propose a subtraction scheme for a massive Yang-Mills theory realized via a nonlinear representation of the gauge group (here SU(2)). It is based on the subtraction of the poles in D − 4 of the amplitudes, in dimensional regularization, after a suitable normalization has been performed. Perturbation theory is in the number of loops and the procedure is stable under iterative subtraction of the poles. The unphysical Goldstone bosons, the Faddeev-Popov ghosts and the unphysical mode of the gauge field are expected to cancel out in the unitarity equation. The spontaneous symmetry breaking parameter is not a physical variable. We use the tools already tested in the nonlinear sigma model: hierarchy in the number of Goldstone boson legs and weak power-counting property (finite number of independent divergent amplitudes at each order). It is intriguing that the model is naturally based on the symmetry SU (2) L local ⊗ SU (2) R global. By construction the physical amplitudes depend on the mass and on the self-coupling constant of the gauge particle and moreover on the scale parameter of the radiative corrections. The Feynman rules are in the Landau gauge.

We analyse the complete algebraic structure of the background field method for Yang-Mills theory in the Landau gauge and show several structural simplifications within this approach. In particular we present a new way to study the IR behavior of Green functions in the Landau gauge and show that there exists a unique Green function whose IR behaviour controls the IR properties of the gluon and the ghost propagators.