WARD IDENTITIES FOR YANG-MILLS THEORY IN ABELIAN GAUGES - ABELIAN DOMINANCE AT HIGH-ENERGIES

We consider Yang-Mills theory in a general class of Abelian gauges. Ex ploiting the residual Abelian symmetry on a quantum level, we derive a set of Ward identities in functional form, valid to all orders in per turbation theory. As a consequence, the coupling constant is only reno rmalised through the Abelian two-point function. This implies that asy mptotic freedom in all Abelian gauges can be understood from an effect ive Abelian theory alone, which can be interpreted as Abelian dominanc e in the high energy regime. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.