Boundary conditions, gauge fixing ambiguities and exact expectation values in U(1) lattice gauge theory

We analyze the interplay between gauge fixing and boundary conditions in two-dimensional U(1) lattice gauge theory. We show on the basis of a general argument that periodic boundary conditions result in an ill-defined weak coupling approximation but that the approximation can be made well-defined if the boundaries are fixed to zero. We confirm this result in the particular case of the Feynman gauge. We show that the zero momentum mode divergence in the propagator that appears in the Feynman gauge vanishes when the weak coupling approximation is well-defined. In addition we obtain exact results (for arbitrary coupling), including finite size corrections, for the partition function and for general one-point and two-point functions in the axial gauge under both periodic and zero boundary conditions and confirm these results numerically. The dependence of these objects on both lattice size and coupling constant is investigated using specific examples. These exact results may provide insight into similar gauge fixing issues in more complex models.