Bhalla-Ladd, India and March, Eleanor and Weatherall, James Owen (2026) Ceci n'est pas un gluon. [Preprint]

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Abstract

We discuss and then resolve a tension between how physicists treat gauge bosons and the celebrated "Wu-Yang dictionary", which identifies particle physics terminology with that of principal bundles and principal connections. We show how this tension leads to an interpretative choice that is not widely discussed in the physics literature. We then show how
the same considerations present a dilemma for a recent "particle-first" approach to Yang-Mills theory due to Henrique Gomes. Either the particle-first approach has surplus structure as compared to principal-bundle-based approaches, or gauge bosons are not sections of vector
bundles.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Bhalla-Ladd, India ibhallal@uci.edu March, Eleanor eleanor.march@balliol.ox.ac.uk Weatherall, James Owen weatherj@uci.edu
Keywords:	Yang-Mills theory, Standard Model, gauge theory, gluons
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User:	James Owen Weatherall
Date Deposited:	20 Mar 2026 12:32
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2026 12:32
Item ID:	28687
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date:	2026
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28687

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