We study the equivalence between the self-dual and the Maxwell-Chern-Simons (MCS) models coupled to dynamical, U(1) charged matter, both fermionic and bosonic. This is done through an iterative procedure of gauge embedding that produces the dual mapping of the self-dual vector field theory into a Maxwell-Chern-Simons version. In both cases, to establish this equivalence a current-current interaction term is needed to render the matter sector unchanged. Moreover, the minimal coupling of the original self-dual model is replaced by a non-minimal magnetic like coupling in the MCS side. Unlike the fermionic instance however, in the bosonic example the dual mapping proposed here leads to a Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory immersed in a field dependent medium.

In a recent Letter, Faddeev and Jackiw have shown that the reduction of constrained systems into its canonical, first-order form, can bring some new insight into the research of this field. For sympletic manifolds the geometrical structure, called Dirac or generalized bracket, is obtained directly from the inverse of the nonsingular sympletic two-form matrix. In the cases of nonsympletic manifolds, this two-form is degenerated and cannot be inverted to provide the generalized brackets. This singular behavior of the sympletic matrix is indicative of the presence of constraints that have to be carefully considered to yield to consistent results. One has two possible routes to treat this problem: Dirac has taught us how to implement the constraints into the potential part (Hamiltonian) of the canonical Lagrangian, leading to the well-known Dirac brackets, which are consistent with the constraints and can be mapped into quantum commutators (modulo ordering terms). The second route, suggested by Faddeev and Jackiw, and followed in this paper, is to implement the constraints directly into the canonical part of the first-order Lagrangian, using the fact that the consistence condition for the stability of the constrained manifold is linear in the time derivative. This algorithm may lead to an invertible two-form sympletic matrix from where the Dirac brackets are readily obtained. This algorithm is used here to investigate some aspects of the quantization of constrained systems with first- and second-class constraints in the sympletic approach.

It is shown that the symplectic two-form, which defines the geometrical structure of a constrained theory in the Faddeev-Jackiw approach, may be brought into a non-degenerated form, by an iterative implementation of the existing constraints. The resulting generalized brackets coincide with those obtained by the Dirac bracket approach, if the constrained system under investigation presents only second-class constraints. For gauge theories, a symmetry breaking term must be supplemented to bring the symplectic form into a non-singular configuration. At present, the singular symplectic two-form provides directly the generators of the time independent gauge transformations.

We develop a technique that solders the dual aspects of some symmetry. Using this technique it is possible to combine two theories with such symmetries to yield a new effective theory. Some applications in two and three dimensional bosonisation are discussed. In particular, it is shown that two apparently independent three dimensional massive Thirring models with same coupling but opposite mass signatures, in the long wavelegth limit, combine by the process of bosonisation and soldering to yield an effective massive Maxwell theory. Similar features also hold for quantum electrodynamics in three dimensions. We also provide a systematic derivation of duality symmetric actions and show that the soldering mechanism leads to a master action which is duality invariant under a bigger set of symmetries than is usually envisaged. The concept of duality swapping is introduced and its implications are analysed. The example of electromagnetic duality is discussed in details.

We review two methods used to approach the condensation of defects phenomenon. Analyzing in details their structure, we show that in the limit where the defects proliferate until occupy the whole space these two methods are dual equivalent prescriptions to obtain an effective theory for the phase where the defects (like monopoles or vortices) are completely condensed, starting from the fundamental theory defined in the normal phase where the defects are diluted.Comment: 7 pages, major modifications. Version accepted for publication in Physics Letters