Discrete aspects of continuous symmetries in the tensorial formulation of Abelian gauge theories

Abstract: We show that standard identities and theorems for lattice models with $U(1)$ symmetry get re-expressed discretely in the tensorial formulation of these models. We explain the geometrical analogy between the continuous lattice equations of motion and the discrete selection rules of the tensors. We construct a gauge-invariant transfer matrix in arbitrary dimensions. We show the equivalence with its gauge-fixed version in a maximal temporal gauge and explain how a discrete Gauss's law is always enforced. We propose a noise-robust way to implement Gauss's law in arbitrary dimensions. We reformulate Noether's theorem for global, local, continuous or discrete Abelian symmetries: for each given symmetry, there is one corresponding tensor redundancy. We discuss semi-classical approximations for classical solutions with periodic boundary conditions in two solvable cases. We show the correspondence of their weak coupling limit with the tensor formulation after Poisson summation. We briefly discuss connections with other approaches and implications for quantum computing.