A new action principle for Wittenʹs topological field theory

In this letter a new gauge invariant, metric independent action is introduced from which Wittenʹs topological quantum field theory may be obtained after gauge fixing using standard BRST techniques. In our model the BRST algebra of transformations, under which the effective action is invariant, close off-shell in distinction with what occurs in the one proposed by Labastida and Pernici. Our approach provides the geometrical principle for the quantum theory. We also compare our results with an alternative formulation presented by Baulieu and Singer.