Parity Symmetry in QED3

TL;DR

This paper investigates how parity and chiral symmetries are broken or restored in three-dimensional QED with two-component fermions, using Schwinger-Dyson equations and considering topological photon mass effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates that parity symmetry remains intact while chiral symmetry is broken or restored depending on the number of fermion flavors, providing new insights into symmetry patterns in QED3.

Findings

Parity symmetry is maintained despite topological photon mass.

Chiral symmetry is broken and can be restored at a critical fermion number.

Results are supported by the Coleman-Hill theorem for accuracy.

Abstract

Schwinger-Dyson equations are used to study spontaneous chiral and parity symmetry breaking of three dimensional quantum electrodynamics with two-component fermions. This theory admits a topological photon mass that explicitly breaks parity symmetry and generates a fermion mass. We show that the pattern of symmetry breaking maintains parity but breaks chiral symmetry. We also find that chiral symmetry is restored at a critical number of fermion flavours in our truncation scheme. The Coleman-Hill theorem is used to demonstrate that the results are reasonably accurate.