Charge instabilities due to local charge conjugation symmetry in (2+1)-dimensions

TL;DR

This paper studies a charge instability in (2+1)-dimensional Alice electrodynamics caused by local charge conjugation symmetry, leading to flux pair creation and charge delocalization, with decay rates analyzed.

Contribution

It introduces and analyzes a novel charge instability mechanism in (2+1)D Alice electrodynamics related to local charge conjugation symmetry.

Findings

Charge instability results in flux pair creation.

Charge becomes delocalized as Cheshire charge.

Decay rate depends on model parameters.

Abstract

Alice electrodynamics (AED) is a theory of electrodynamics in which charge conjugation is a local gauge symmetry. In this paper we investigate a charge instability in alice electrodynamics in (2+1)-dimensions due to this local charge conjugation. The instability manifests itself through the creation of a pair of alice fluxes. The final state is one in which the charge is completely delocalized, i.e., it is carried as cheshire charge by the flux pair that gets infinitely separated. We determine the decay rate in terms of the parameters of the model. The relation of this phenomenon with other salient features of 2-dimensional compact QED, such as linear confinement due to instantons/monopoles, is discussed.