APPLICATION OF THE BACKGROUND-FIELD METHOD TO THE ELECTROWEAK STANDARD MODEL

Application of the background-field method yields a gauge-invariant ef fective action for the electroweak Standard Model, from which simple Q ED-like Ward identities are derived. As a consequence of these Ward id entities, the background-field Green functions are shown to possess ve ry desirable theoretical properties. The renormalization of the Standa rd Model in the background-field formalism is studied. A consistent on -shell renormalization procedure retaining the full gauge symmetry is presented. The structure of the counterterms is shown to greatly simpl ify compared to the conventional formalism. A complete list of Feynman rules for the Standard Model in the background-field method is given for arbitrary values of a quantum gauge parameter including all counte rterms necessary for one-loop calculations.