Spontaneous Breakdown of the Lorentz Invariance in Three-Dimensional Gauge Theories

Yutaka Hosotani

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arXiv · hep-th/9408148

Spontaneous Breakdown of the Lorentz Invariance in Three-Dimensional Gauge Theories

Yutaka Hosotani

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Abstract

In a class of renormalizable three-dimensional abelian gauge theory the Lorentz invariance is spontaneously broken by dynamical generation of a magnetic field $B$. The true ground state resembles that of the quantum Hall effect. An originally topologically massive photon becomes gapless, fulfilling the role of the Nambu-Goldstone boson associated with the spontaneous breaking of the Lorentz invariance. We give a simple explanation and a sufficient condition for the spontaneous breaking of the Lorentz invariance with the aid of the Nambu-Goldstone theorem. The decrease of the energy density by $B \not= 0$ is understood mostly due to the shift in zero-point energy of photons. For PASCOS'94.

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Yutaka Hosotani. 1994-08-26. Spontaneous Breakdown of the Lorentz Invariance in Three-Dimensional Gauge Theories. https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9408148

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