A non-associative deformation of Yang-Mills gauge theory

An ansatz is presented for a possible non-associative deformation of the standard Yang-Mills type gauge theories. An explicit algebraic structure for the deformed gauge symmetry is put forward and the resulting gauge theory developed. The non-associative deformation is constructed in such a way that an apparently associative Lie algebraic structure is retained module a closure problem for the generators. It is this failure to close which leads to new physics in the model as manifest in the gauge held kinetic term in the resulting Lagrangian. A possible connection between this model and quantum group gauge theories is also investigated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.