We demonstrate that the four (3 + 1)-dimensional (4D) free Abelian 2-form gauge theory presents a tractable field theoretical model for the Hodge theory where the well-defined symmetry transformations correspond to the de Rham cohomological operators of differential geometry. The conserved charges, corresponding to the above continuous symmetry transformations, obey an algebra that is reminiscent of the algebra obeyed by the cohomological operators. The discrete symmetry transformation of the theory represents the realization of the Hodge duality operation that exists in the relationship between the exterior and co-exterior derivatives of differential geometry. Thus, we provide the realizations of all the mathematical quantities, associated with the de Rham cohomological operators, in the language of the symmetries of the present 4D free Abelian 2-form gauge theory.PACS : 11.15.-q, 03.70.+k Keywords: Free 4D Abelian 2-form gauge theory, anticommuting (anti-)BRST symmetries, anticommuting (anti-)co-BRST symmetries, de Rham cohomological operators, analogues of the Curci-Ferrari conditions 1 The exterior derivative d = dx µ ∂ µ (with d 2 = 0), the co-exterior derivative δ = ± * d * (with δ 2 = 0) and the Laplacian operator ∆ = dδ + δd constitute the set of de Rham cohomological operators of differential geometry on a compact manifold without a boundary. These operators follow the algebra: d 2 = δ 2 = 0, ∆ = (d + δ) 2 ≡ {d, δ}, [d, ∆] = 0, [δ, ∆] = 0. The operator * is the Hodge duality operation on a given manifold.

We apply the superfield approach to the toy model of a rigid rotor and show the existence of the nilpotent and absolutely anticommuting Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) and anti-BRST symmetry transformations, under which, the kinetic term and the action remain invariant. Furthermore, we also derive the off-shell nilpotent and absolutely anticommuting (anti-) co-BRST symmetry transformations, under which, the gauge-fixing term and the Lagrangian remain invariant. The anticommutator of the above nilpotent symmetry transformations leads to the derivation of a bosonic symmetry transformation, under which, the ghost terms and the action remain invariant. Together, the above transformations (and their corresponding generators) respect an algebra that turns out to be a physical realization of the algebra obeyed by the de Rham cohomological operators of differential geometry. Thus, our present model is a toy model for the Hodge theory.

Starting with high scale mixing unification hypothesis, we investigate the renormalization group evolution of mixing parameters and masses for Dirac type neutrinos. Following this hypothesis, the PMNS mixing angles and phase are taken to be identical to the CKM ones at a unifying high scale. Then, they are evolved to a low scale using renormalization-group equations. The notable feature of this hypothesis is that renormalization group evolution with quasi-degenerate mass pattern can explain largeness of leptonic mixing angles even for Dirac neutrinos. The renormalization group evolution "naturally" results in a non-zero and small value of leptonic mixing angle θ 13 . One of the important predictions of this work is that the mixing angle θ 23 is non-maximal and lies only in the second octant. We also derive constraints on the allowed parameter range for the SUSY breaking and unification scales for which this hypothesis works. The results are novel and can be tested by present and future experiments.

We demonstrate the existence of the nilpotent and absolutely anticommuting Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) and anti-BRST symmetry transformations for the four (3 + 1)-dimensional (4D) topologically massive Abelian U(1) gauge theory that is described by the coupled Lagrangian densities (which incorporate the celebrated (B ∧ F ) term). The absolute anticommutativity of the (anti-) BRST symmetry transformations is ensured by the existence of a Curci-Ferrari type restriction that emerges from the superfield formalism as well as from the equations of motion that are derived from the above coupled Lagrangian densities. We show the invariance of the action from the point of view of the symmetry considerations as well as superfield formulation. We discuss, furthermore, the topological term within the framework of superfield formalism and provide the geometrical meaning of its invariance under the (anti-) BRST symmetry transformations.

We derive the basic canonical brackets amongst the creation and annihilation operators for a two (1 + 1)-dimensional (2D) gauge field theoretic model of an interacting Hodge theory where a U (1) gauge field (Aµ) is coupled with the fermionic Dirac fields (ψ andψ). In this derivation, we exploit the spin-statistics theorem, normal ordering and the strength of the underlying six infinitesimal continuous symmetries (and the concept of their generators) that are present in the theory. We do not use the definition of the canonical conjugate momenta (corresponding to the basic fields of the theory) anywhere in our whole discussion. Thus, we conjecture that our present approach provides an alternative to the canonical method of quantization for a class of gauge field theories that are physical examples of Hodge theory where the continuous symmetries (and corresponding generators) provide the physical realizations of the de Rham cohomological operators of differential geometry at the algebraic level.