Self-consistent theory of compact QED3 with relativistic fermions

TL;DR

This paper develops a self-consistent theoretical framework for compact QED3 with relativistic fermions, analyzing monopole interactions and confinement, and concludes that screening effects prevent confinement, aligning with prior RG studies.

Contribution

It introduces a combined perturbative variational approach to study monopole interactions and confinement in compact QED3 with matter fields.

Findings

Screening effects destabilize the confined phase.

Monopole interactions become logarithmic at large distances.

Results agree with previous renormalization group analyses.

Abstract

We consider three dimensional quantum electrodynamics (cQED3) with massless relativistic fermions coupled to a compact gauge field using a combined perturbative variational approach. Coupling to matter renders the bare interaction between magnetic monopoles logarithmic at large distances, suggesting the possibility of a confinement-deconfinement transition of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type in the theory. Our self-consistent calculation suggests, however, that screening effects always destabilise the confined phase, in agreement with the previous renormalisation group study of the same model.