arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A. Bashir.
We calculate the complete one-loop off-shell three-point scalar-photon vertex in arbitrary gauge and dimension for Scalar Quantum Electrodynamics. Explicit results are presented for the particular cases of dimensions 3 and 4 both for massive and massless scalars. We then propose non-perturbative forms of this vertex that coincide with the perturbative answer to order $e^2$.
Gauge theories have been a cornerstone of the description of the world at the level of the fundamental particles. The Lagrangian or the action describing the corresponding interactions is invariant under certain gauge transformations. This symmetry is reflected in terms of the Ward-Green-Takahashi (or the Slavnov-Taylor) identities which relate various Green functions among each other, and the Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin transformations which relate a Green function in a particular gauge to it in an arbitrary covariant one. As an outcome, all physical observables should be independent of the choice of the covariant gauge parameter. The most systematic scheme to solve quantum field theories (QFT) is perturbation theory where the above-mentioned identities are satisfied at every order of approximation. This feature is exploited highly usefully as a verification of the results obtained after time- and effort-consuming exercises. As it stands, not all natural phenomena are realized in the perturbative regime of QFTs. Therefore, one is inevitably led to make efforts to solve these theories in a non perturbative fashion. A natural starting point for such studies in the continuum are the Schwinger-Dyson Equations (SDE). One of the most undesirable features associated with their non perturbative truncation is the loss of highly and rightly esteemed gauge invariance rendering the predictions less reliable. Arguably, the only hope we have to recuperate the credibility of the results is to employ only such truncation schemes which yield predictions that match onto the blindly reliable perturbative ones at every order of approximation. It is a highly difficult task but not impossible.
It is a well known feature of odd space-time dimensions $d$ that there exist two inequivalent fundamental representations $A$ and $B$ of the Dirac gamma matrices. Moreover, the parity transformation swaps the fermion fields living in $A$ and $B$. As a consequence, a parity invariant Lagrangian can only be constructed by incorporating both the representations. Based upon these ideas and contrary to long held belief, we show that in addition to a discrete exchange symmetry for the massless case, we can also define chiral symmetry provided the Lagrangian contains fields corresponding to both the inequivalent representations. We also study the transformation properties of the corresponding chiral currents under parity and charge conjugation operations. We work explicitly in 2+1 dimensions and later show how some of these ideas generalize to an arbitrary number of odd dimensions.
We study the gauge dependence of the fermion propagator in quenched QED3 with and without dynamical symmetry breaking in the light of its Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin Transformation (LKFT). In the former case, starting with the massive bare propagator in the Landau gauge, we obtain non perturbative propagator in an arbitrary covariant gauge. At the one-loop level it yields exact wavefunction renormalization and correct $(αξ)$ terms for the mass fuction. Also, we obtain valuable information for the higher order perturbative expansion of the propagator. As for the case of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking, we start by approximating the numerical solution to the Schwinger-Dyson equation in Landau gauge in the rainbow approximation in terms of analytic functions. We then LKF transform this result to obtain the dynamically generated fermion propagator in an arbitrary covariant gauge. We find that the results obtained have nice qualitative features. We also extend this exercise to the cases involving more reliable ansätze for the vertex and encounter similar (and improved) qualitative features.
Numerical study of the Schwinger-Dyson equation (SDE) for the fermion propagator (FP) to obtain dynamically generated chirally asymmetric solution in an arbitrary covariant gauge $ξ$ is a complicated exercise specially if one employs a sophisticated form of the fermion-boson interaction complying with the key features of a gauge field theory. However, constraints of gauge invariance can help construct such a solution without having the need to solve the Schwinger-Dyson equation for every value of $ξ$. In this article, we propose and implement a method to carry out this task in quenched quantum electrodynamics in a plane (QED3). We start from an approximate analytical form of the solution of the SDE for the FP in the Landau gauge. We consider the cases in which the interaction vertex (i) is bare and (ii) is full. We then apply the Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin transformations (LKFT) on the dynamically generated solution and find analytical results for arbitrary value of $ξ$. We also compare our results with exact numerical solutions available for a small number of values of $ξ$ obtained through a direct analysis of the corresponding SDE.
It is well known how multiplicative renormalizability of the fermion propagator, through its Schwinger-Dyson equation, imposes restrictions on the 3-point fermion-boson vertex in massless quenched quantum electrodynamics in 4-dimensions (QED$_4$). Moreover, perturbation theory serves as an excellent guide for possible nonperturbative constructions of Green functions. We extend these ideas to arbitrary dimensions $d$. The constraint of multiplicative renormalizability of the fermion propagator is generalized to a Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin transformation law in $d$-dimensions and it naturally leads to a constraint on the fermion-boson vertex. We verify that this constraint is satisfied in perturbation theory at the one loop level in 3-dimensions. Based upon one loop perturbative calculation of the vertex, we find additional restrictions on its possible nonperturbative forms in arbitrary dimensions.
Schwinger-Dyson equations (SDEs) provide a natural staring point to study non-perturbative phenomena such as dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in gauge field theories. We briefly review this research in the context of quenched quantum electrodynamics (QED) and discuss the advances made in the gradual improvement of the assumptions employed to solve these equations. We argue that these attempts render the corresponding studies more and more reliable and suitable for their future use in the more realistic cases of unquenched QED, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and models alternative to the standard model of particle physics.
We study the gauge covariance of the massive fermion propagator in three as well as four dimensional Quantum Electrodynamics (QED). Starting from its value at the lowest order in perturbation theory, we evaluate a non-perturbative expression for it by means of its Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin (LKF) transformation. We compare the perturbative expansion of our findings with the known one loop results and observe perfect agreement upto a gauge parameter independent term, a difference permitted by the structure of the LKF transformations.
We study three dimensional quenched Quantum Electrodynamics in the bare vertex approximation. We investigate the gauge dependence of the dynamically generated Euclidean mass of the fermion and the chiral condensate for a wide range of values of the covariant gauge parameter $ξ$. We find that (i) away from $ξ=0$, gauge dependence of the said quantities is considerably reduced without resorting to sophisticated vertex {\em ansatze}, (ii) wavefunction renormalization plays an important role in restoring gauge invariance and (iii) the Ward-Green-Takahashi identity seems to increase the gauge dependence when used in conjunction with some simplifying assumptions. In the Landau gauge, we also verify that our results are in agreement with those based upon dimensional regularization scheme within the numerical accuracy available.
We derive expressions for the phase-space of a particle of momentum $p$ decaying into $N$ particles, that are valid for any number of dimensions. These are the imaginary parts of so-called `sunset' diagrams, which we also obtain. The results are given as a series of hypergeometric functions, which terminate for odd dimensions and are also well-suited for deriving the threshold behaviour.
We derive perturbative constraints on the transverse part of the fermion-boson vertex in massive QED3 through its one loop evaluation in an arbitrary covariant gauge. Written in a particular form, these constraints naturally lead us to the first non-perturbative construction of the vertex, which is in complete agreement with its one loop expansion in all momentum regimes. Without affecting its one-loop perturbative properties, we also construct an effective vertex in such a way that the unknown functions defining it have no dependence on the angle between the incoming and outgoing fermion momenta. Such a vertex should be useful for the numerical study of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking, leading to more reliable results.
For massless quenched QED in three dimensions, we evaluate a non-perturbative expression for the fermion propagator which agrees with its two loop perturbative expansion in the weak coupling regime. This calculation is carried out by making use of the Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin transformations. Any improved construction of the fermion-boson vertex must make sure that the solution of the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the fermion propagator reproduces this result. For two different gauges, we plot the fermion propagator against momentum. We then make a comparison with a similar plot, using the earlier expression for the fermion propagator, which takes into account only the one loop result.
We derive constraints on the non-perturbative 3-point fermion-boson transverse vertex in massless QED3 from its perturbative calculation to order $α$. We also check the transversality condition to two loops and evaluate the fermion propagator to the same order. We compare a conjecture of the non-perturbative vertex by Burden and Tjiang against our results and comment on its draw backs. Our calculation calls for the need to construct a non-perturbative form for the fermion-boson vertex which agrees with its perturbative limit to ${\cal O}(α)$.
We evaluate the analytic expression for the one-loop fermion-boson vertex in massless QED3 in an arbitrary covariant gauge. The result is written in terms of elementary functions of its momenta. The vertex is decomposed into a longitudinal part, that is fully responsible for ensuring the Ward and Ward-Takahashi identities are satisfied, and a transverse part. Following Ball and Chiu and Kızılersü {\it et. al.}, the transverse part is written in its most general form as a function of 4 independent vectors. We calculate the coefficients of each of these vectors. We also check the transversality condition to two loops and evaluate the fermion propagator to the same order. We compare our results with a conjecture of the non-perturbative vertex by Tjiang and Burden.
We study Schwinger-Dyson equation for fermions in Yukawa and Wess-Zumino models, in terms of dynamical mass generation and the wavefunction renormalization function. In the Yukawa model with $γ_5$-type interaction between scalars and fermions, we find a critical coupling in the quenched approximation above which fermions acquire dynamical mass. This is shown to be true beyond the bare 3-point vertex approximation. In the Wess-Zumino model, there is a neat cancellation of terms leading to no dynamical mass for fermions. We comment on the conditions under which these results are general beyond the rainbow approximation and also on the ones under which supersymmetry is preserved and the scalars as well do not acquire mass. The results are in accordance with the non-renormalization theorem at least to order $α$ in perturbation theory. In both the models, we also evaluate the wavefunction renormalization function, analytically in the neighbourhood of the critical coupling and numerically, away from it.
Dong, Munczek and Roberts have shown how the full 3-point vertex that appears in the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the fermion propagator can be expressed in terms of a constrained function $W_1$ in massless quenched QED. However, this analysis involved two key assumptions: that the fermion anomalous dimension vanishes in the Landau gauge and that the transverse vertex has a simplified dependence on momenta. Here we remove these assumptions and find the general form for a new constrained function $U_1$ that ensures the multiplicative renormalizability of the fermion propagator non-perturbatively. We then study the restriction imposed on $U_1$ by recent perturbative calculations of the vertex and compute its leading logarithmic expansion. Since $U_1$ should reduce to this expansion in the weak coupling regime, this should serve as a guide to its non-perturbative construction. We comment on the perturbative realization of the constraints on $U_1$.
We discuss the structure of the non-perturbative fermion-boson vertex in quenched QED. We show that it is possible to construct a vertex which not only ensures that the fermion propagator is multiplicatively renormalizable, obeys the appropriate Ward-Takahashi identity, reproduces perturbation theory for weak couplings and guarantees that the critical coupling at which the mass is dynamically generated is gauge independent but also makes sure that the value for the anomalous dimension for the mass function is strictly 1, as Holdom and Mahanta have proposed.
This talk gives an overview of the recent development in the study of non-perturbative fermion-boson vertex in quenched QED towards achieving that the fermion propagator satisfies the Ward-Takahashi identity, is multiplicatively renormalizable, agrees with perturbation theory for weak couplings and has a critical coupling for dynamical mass generation that is strictly gauge independent. The use of such a vertex may lead to a realistic calculation of t(tbar) condensates as the source of electroweak symmetry breaking. (Talk given at The Advanced Study Institute on Frontiers in Particle Physics, Cargese, Ajaccio, France, August 1-13, 1994.)