The action of electromagnetic field is
S=∫(−12e2F∧∗F+θ8π2F∧F),
where F=dA is the curvature 2-form, and A is the connection 1-form, and ∗ is the Hodge star in Lorentzian signature.
Define
τ=θ2π+2πie2
and
F±=F±i∗F.
The above action can be written as
S=i16π∫(τF+∧∗F+−ˉτF−∧∗F−)=−18π∫Im(τF+∧∗F+).
One can introduce a dual field F′, and add
12π∫F′∧(F−dA)
to the above action.
Then, the path integral
Z=1volG∫DAeiS
is equivalent to
∫DF′∫DFexp[i16π∫(τF+∧∗F+−ˉτF−∧∗F−)+i2π∫F′∧(F−dA)].
The functional integral over F seems to be Gaussian, but is not in the standard form because its action is the imaginary part of ∫τF+∧∗F+.
How to perform the functional integral over F? Are there any finite dimensional analog examples?
I also posted my question here.