The brane-reduced action is gauge-invariant under
aμ→aμ+∂μΛ(x,t), so the full machinery of Lorenz and Coulomb gauges applies on
Σ. At the parent level, however, there is a larger gauge group including w-dependent transformations
AM→AM+∂MΛ(x,w,t). The zero-mode ansatz partially fixes this extended gauge by demanding alignment with the profile
f0(w).
Gauge transformations that re-excite higher modes (i.e. that vary non-trivially in
w) are not available to the brane observer without leaving the reduction. This is the precise statement of how the zero-mode reduction trades microscopic gauge freedom for brane-side predictability.