📝 SummarXiv

Abstract

Symmetry under a particular class of non-strictly canonical transformations may be used to identify, and subsequently excise degrees of freedom which do not contribute to the closure of the algebra of dynamical observables. In this article, we present a mathematical framework which extends this symmetry reduction procedure to classical field theories described within the covariant De-Donder Weyl formalism. Both the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms are discussed; in the former case, the Lagrangian is introduced as a bundle morphism $\mathcal{L}:J^1E\rightarrow\wedge^mM$, whilst the Hamiltonian description takes as its multiphase space the restricted multimomentum bundle $J^1E^*$. The contact reduction process is implemented in a number of particular cases, and it is found that the geometry of the reduced space admits an elegant physical interpretation.