Non-relativistic fermionic energy gap in the non-abelian gauge systems

TL;DR

This paper shows that in non-abelian gauge systems, non-relativistic fermions develop an energy gap when gauge bosons gain mass, with a unique gap emerging despite SU(N) symmetry.

Contribution

It reveals a novel energy gap phenomenon in non-abelian gauge systems with massive gauge bosons affecting non-relativistic fermions.

Findings

Fermions develop an energy gap when gauge bosons are massive.

One fermionic energy gap is non-degenerate among N fermions for N ≥ 3.

The phenomenon occurs despite the presence of SU(N) gauge symmetry.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the non-relativistic fermions open the energy gap when the SU(N) gauge bosons, mediating the interaction between fermions, acquire the mass. Surprisingly, even though there is the SU(N) gauge symmetry, there is always one fermionic energy gap which is not degenerate to the rest of the $N-1$ fermions for $N \ge 3$ in the fundamental representation.