Conformal invariance and gauge fixing in QED

Abstract

In spite of all the work that has been done over the years on conformal field theories, conformal electrodynamics has remained only partially developed. New results presented here are as follows: on the classical level, a gauge-fixing condition that is consistent with conformal invariance; in quantum electrodynamics, conformally covariant field quantization for massless electrons. In several appendices we treat an alternative method of gauge fixing that involves a complex anomalous conformal degree, electrodynamics in three dimensions, and conformal Liouville theories.