Topological aspects of gauge-fixing Yang-Mills theory on S₄

For an S₄ space-time manifold global aspects of gauge fixing are investigated using the relation to topological quantum field theory (TQFT) on the gauge group. The partition function of this TQFT is shown to compute the regularized Euler character of a suitably defined space of gauge transformations. Topological properties of the space of solutions to a covariant gauge condition on the orbit of a particular instanton are found using the SO(5) isometry group of the S₄ base manifold. We obtain that the Euler character of this space differs from that of an orbit in the topologically trivial sector. This result implies that an orbit with a Pontryagin number κ=±1 in covariant gauges on S₄ contributes to physical correlation functions with a different multiplicity factor due to the Gribov copies than an orbit in the trivial κ=0 sector. Similar topological arguments show that there is no contribution from the topologically trivial sector to physical correlation functions in gauges defined by a nondegenerate background connection. We discuss the possible physical implications of the global gauge dependence of Yang-Mills theory.