Induced vacuum condensates in the background of a singular magnetic vortex in 2+1-dimensional space-time

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a singular magnetic vortex in 2+1-dimensional space-time influences the vacuum state of a massless spinor field, leading to symmetry breaking and induced quantum numbers.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of vacuum polarization, condensate formation, and induced quantum numbers due to a singular magnetic vortex, considering different boundary conditions.

Findings

Vacuum polarization depends on boundary conditions at the vortex

Chiral symmetry or parity can be broken by the vortex

Quantum numbers like current and energy are induced in the vacuum

Abstract

We show that the vacuum of the quantized massless spinor field in 2+1-dimensional space-time is polarized in the presence of a singular magnetic vortex. Depending on the choice of the boundary condition at the location of the vortex, either chiral symmetry or parity is broken; the formation of the appropriate vacuum condensates is comprehensively studied. In addition, we find that current, energy and other quantum numbers are induced in the vacuum.