Dynamical symmetry breaking in asymptotically free field theories

Abstract

Two-dimensional massless fermion field theories with quartic interactions are analyzed. These models are asymptotically free. The models are expanded in powers of $\frac{1}{N,}$ where $N$ is the number of components of the fermion field. In such an expansion one can explicitly sum to all orders in the coupling constants. It is found that dynamical symmetry breaking occurs in these models for any value of the coupling constant. The resulting theories produce a fermion mass dynamically, in addition to a scalar bound state and, if the broken symmetry is continuous, a Goldstone boson. The resulting theories contain no adjustable parameters. The search for symmetry breaking is performed using functional techniques, the new feature here being that a composite field, say $\overline{\ensuremath{\psi}}\ensuremath{\psi}$, develops a nonvanishing vacuum expectation value. The "potential" of composite fields is discussed and constructed. General results are derived for arbitrary theories in which all masses are generated dynamically. It is proved that in asymptotically free theories the dynamical masses must depend on the coupling constants in a nonanalytic fashion, vanishing exponentially when these vanish. It is argued that infrared-stable theories, such as massless-fermion quantum electrodynamics, cannot produce masses dynamically. Four-dimensional scalar field theories with quartic interactions are analyzed in the large-$N$ limit and are shown to yield unphysical results. The models are extended to include gauge fields. It is then found that the gauge vector mesons acquire a mass through a dynamical Higgs mechanism. The higher-order corrections, of order $\frac{1}{N}$, to the models are analyzed. Essential singularities, of the Borel-summable type, are discovered at zero coupling constant. The origin of the singularities is the ultraviolet behavior of the theory.