Gauge bosons at zero and finite temperature

Gauge theories of the Yang–Mills type are the single most important building block of the standard model of particle physics and beyond. They are an integral part of the strong and weak interactions, and in their Abelian version of electromagnetism. Since Yang–Mills theories are gauge theories their elementary particles, the gauge bosons, cannot be described without fixing a gauge. Therefore, to obtain their properties a quantized and gauge-fixed setting is necessary.