Dual description of U(1) charged fields in (2+1) dimensions

We show that the functional bosonization procedure can he generalized in su ch away that, to any held theory with a conserved Abelian charge in 2 + 1 d imensions, there corresponds a dual Abelian gauge field theory. The propert ies of this mapping and of the dual theory are discussed in detail, present ing different explicit examples. In particular, the meaning and effect of t he coefficient of the Chern-Simons term in the dual action is interpreted i n terms of the spin and statistics connection. (C) 2001 Academic Press.