On Generalized Gauge-Fixing in the Field-Antifield Formalism

We consider the problem of covariant gauge-fixing in the most general setting of the field-antifield formalism, where the action W and the gauge-fixing part X enter symmetrically and both satisfy the Quantum Master Equation. Analogous to the gauge-generating algebra of the action W, we analyze the possibility of having a reducible gauge-fixing algebra of X. We treat a reducible gauge-fixing algebra of the so-called first-stage in full detail and generalize to arbitrary stages. The associated "square root" measure contributions are worked out from first principles, with or without the presence of antisymplectic second-class constraints. Finally, we consider an W-X alternating multi-level generalization.