Noether's theorem and gauge symmetry

I'm confused about Noether's theorem applied to gauge symmetry. Say we have

$$\mathcal L=-\frac14F_{ab}F^{ab}.$$

Then it's invariant under $A_a\rightarrow A_a+\partial_a\Lambda.$

But can I say that the conserved current here is

$$J^a=\frac{\partial\mathcal L}{\partial(\partial_aA_b)}\delta A_b=-\frac12 F^{ab}\partial_b\Lambda~?$$

Why do I never see such a current written? If Noether's theorem doesn't apply here, then is space-time translation symmetry the only candidate to produce Noether currents for this Lagrangian?

Answer

Indeed, nothing is wrong with Noether theorem here, $J^\mu = F^{\mu \nu} \partial_\nu \Lambda$ is a conserved current for every choice of the smooth scalar function $\Lambda$. It can be proved by direct inspection, since

$$\partial_\mu J^\mu = \partial_\mu (F^{\mu \nu} \partial_\nu \Lambda)= (\partial_\mu F^{\mu \nu}) \partial_\nu \Lambda+ F^{\mu \nu} \partial_\mu\partial_\nu \Lambda = 0 + 0 =0\:.$$ Above, $\partial_\mu F^{\mu \nu}=0$ due to field equations and $F^{\mu \nu} \partial_\mu\partial_\nu \Lambda=0$ because $F^{\mu \nu}=-F^{\nu \mu}$ whereas $\partial_\mu\partial_\nu \Lambda =\partial_\nu\partial_\mu \Lambda$.

ADDENDUM. I show here that $J^\mu$ arises from the standard Noether theorem. The relevant symmetry transformation, for every fixed $\Lambda$, is

$$A_\mu \to A'_\mu = A_\mu + \epsilon \partial_\mu \Lambda\:.$$ One immediately sees that $$\int_\Omega {\cal L}(A', \partial A') d^4x = \int_\Omega {\cal L}(A, \partial A) d^4x\tag{0}$$ since even ${\cal L}$ is invariant. Hence, $$\frac{d}{d\epsilon}|_{\epsilon=0} \int_\Omega {\cal L}(A, \partial A) d^4x=0\:.\tag{1}$$ Swapping the symbol of derivative and that of integral (assuming $\Omega$ bounded) and exploiting Euler-Lagrange equations, (1) can be re-written as: $$\int_\Omega \partial_\nu \left(\frac{\partial {\cal L}}{\partial \partial_\nu A_\mu} \partial_\mu \Lambda\right) \: d^4 x =0\:.\tag{2}$$ Since the integrand is continuous and $\Omega$ arbitrary, (2) is equivalent to $$\partial_\nu \left(\frac{\partial {\cal L}}{\partial \partial_\nu A_\mu} \partial_\mu \Lambda\right) =0\:,$$ which is the identity discussed by the OP (I omit a constant factor): $$\partial_\mu (F^{\mu \nu} \partial_\nu \Lambda)=0\:.$$

ADDENDUM2. The charge associated to any of these currents is related with the electrical flux at spatial infinity. Indeed one has:

$$Q = \int_{t=t_0} J^0 d^3x = \int_{t=t_0} \sum_{i=1}^3 F^{0i}\partial_i \Lambda d^3x = \int_{t=t_0} \partial_i\sum_{i=1}^3 F^{0i} \Lambda d^3x - \int_{t=t_0} ( \sum_{i=1}^3 \partial_i F^{0i}) \Lambda d^3x \:.$$ As $\sum_{i=1}^3 \partial_i F^{0i} = -\partial_\mu F^{\mu 0}=0$, the last integral does not give any contribution and we have $$Q = \int_{t=t_0} \partial_i\left(\Lambda \sum_{i=1}^3 F^{0i} \right) d^3x = \lim_{R\to +\infty}\oint_{t=t_0, |\vec{x}| =R} \Lambda \vec{E} \cdot \vec{n} \: dS\:.$$ If $\Lambda$ becomes constant in space outside a bounded region $\Omega_0$ and if, for instance, that constant does not vanish, $Q$ is just the flux of $\vec{E}$ at infinity up to a constant factor. In this case $Q$ is the electric charge up to a constant factor (as stressed by ramanujan_dirac in a comment below). In that case, however, $Q=0$ since we are dealing with the free EM field.