Chiral-Symmetry Breaking in Pseudo Quantum Electrodynamics at Finite Temperature

TL;DR

This paper investigates how chiral symmetry breaking occurs in pseudo quantum electrodynamics at finite temperature, revealing a critical temperature and coupling strength for mass gap formation, with implications for condensed matter systems like graphene.

Contribution

It provides a combined analytical and numerical study of chiral symmetry breaking in PQED3 at finite temperature, including the critical temperature and coupling, and finite-temperature Coulomb corrections.

Findings

Existence of a critical temperature $T_c$ for chiral symmetry breaking.

A dynamically generated mass gap below $T_c$.

The ratio of energy gap to critical temperature is approximately $2 \\pi$.

Abstract

We use the Schwinger-Dyson equations in the presence of a thermal bath, in order to study chiral symmetry breaking in a system of massless Dirac fermions interacting through pseudo quantum electrodynamics (PQED3), in (2+1) dimensions. We show that there is a critical temperature $T_c$, below which chiral symmetry is broken, and a corresponding mass gap is dynamically generated, provided the coupling is above a certain, temperature dependent, critical value $\alpha_c$. The ratio between the energy gap and the critical temperature for this model is estimated to be $2 \pi$. These results are confirmed by analytical and numerical investigations of the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the electron. In addition, we calculate the first finite-temperature corrections to the static Coulomb interaction. The relevance of this result in the realm of condensed matter systems, like graphene, is briefly discussed.