Gauge-Invariant Regularization of Quantum Field Theory on the Light Front

We briefly describe problems of the Hamiltonian approach for quantizing gauge fields on the light front for space–time bounded by the inequality $|x^-|\le L$ with periodic boundary conditions in the variable $x^-$ imposed on all fields (the DLCQ method). With these restrictions, we consider the gauge-invariant ultraviolet regularization by passing to a lattice in transverse coordinates. We remove the remaining ultraviolet divergences in the longitudinal momentum $p_-$ by imposing a gauge-invariant finite-mode regularization. It turns out that the canonical formalism on the light front with such a regularization imposed does not contain the usual most complicated second-class constraints between zero and nonzero modes of fields. The described scheme can be used both to regularize the standard gauge theory and to provide a gauge-invariant formulation of effective low-energy models on the light front. Because the manifest Lorentz invariance is broken in our formalism, the vacuum state is poorly defined. We discuss this problem, in particular, in relation to the problem of passing to the continuous space limit.