Dynamical Gauge Symmetry Breaking

This book is a collection of original papers on dynamical gauge symmetry breaking, and is intended for graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics (elementary particle physics and others) who have an understanding of basic quantum field theory. The book can serve as a research text for those requiring an introduction to dynamical gauge symmetry breaking and as a reference text for active researchers. The important papers in the field that are included deal with attempts to apply the ideas to realistic models of elementary particle interactions. A historical critique by the editors provides an introductory review.

The phenomenon of dynamical symmetry breaking (DSB) in quantum field theory is discussed in a detailed and comprehensive way. The deep connection between this phenomenon in condensed matter physics and particle physics is emphasized. The realizations of DSB in such realistic theories as quantum chromodynamics and electroweak theory are considered. Issues intimately connected with DSB such as critical phenomenona and effective lagrangian approach are also discussed.

The third edition of the by now classic reference on rigorous analysis of symmetry breaking in both classical and quantum field theories adds new topics of relevance, in particular the effect of dynamical Coulomb delocalization, by which boundary conditions give rise to volume effects and to energy/mass gap in the Goldstone spectrum (plasmon spectrum, Anderson superconductivity, Higgs phenomenon). The book closes with a discussion of the physical meaning of global and local gauge symmetries and their breaking, with attention to the effect of gauge group topology in QCD. From the reviews of the first edition: It is remarkable to see how much material can actually be presented in a rigorous way (incidentally, many of the results presented are due to Strocchi himself), yet this is largely ignored, the original heuristic derivations being, as a rule, more popular. - At each step he strongly emphasizes the physical meaning and motivation of the various notions introduced [...] a book that fills a conspicuous gap in the literature, and does it rather well. It could also be a good basis for a graduate course in mathematical physics. J.-P. Antoine, Physicalia 28/2, 2006 Despite many accounts in popular textbooks and a widespread belief, the phenomenon is rather subtle, requires an infinite set of degrees of freedom and an advanced mathematical setting of the system under investigation. [...] The mathematically oriented graduate student will certainly benefit from this thorough, rigorous and detailed investigation. G. Roepstorff, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1075, 2006 From the reviews of the second edition: This second edition of Strocchi’s Symmetry Breaking presents a complete, generalized and highly rigorous discussion of the subject, based on a formal analysis of conditions necessary for the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking to occur in classical systems, as well as in quantum systems. [...] This book is specifically recommended for mathematical physicists interested in a deeper and rigorous understanding of the subject, and it should be mandatory for researchers studying the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking. S. Hajjawi, Mathematical Reviews, 2008

This volume presents the important recent progress in both theoretical and phenomenological issues of strong coupling gauge theories, with/without supersymmetry and extra dimensions, etc. Emphasis is placed on dynamical symmetry breaking with large anomalous dimensions governed by the dynamics near the nontrivial fixed point. Also presented are recent developments of the corresponding effective field theories, such as those including light spectra other than the NambuOCoGoldstone particles. This book is a must for all those who are interested in dynamical symmetry breaking and effective field theories in a modern version. Contents: Light-Front Quantization of Gauge Theories (S J Brodsky); Significance of the Renormalization Constant of the Color Gauge Field (K Nishijima & M Chaichian); Mass Gap and Color Confinement in YangOCoMills Theory Based on Asymptotic Solutions of SD Equation (K-I Kondo); Strong Coupling Approach to Transverse Lattice QCD (S Dalley); Vector Manifestation of Chiral Symmetry (M Harada); Locking Internal and Space-Symmetries: Relativistic Vector Condensation (F Sannino); A Practical Gauge Invariant Construction of Abelian Chiral Gauge Theories on the Lattice (Y Kikukawa); Neutrino Masses in Theories with Dynamical Breaking of Electroweak and Extended Gauge Symmetries (T Appelquist & R Schrock); Dynamical Electroweak Symmetry Breaking from Extra Dimensions (M Hashimoto et al.); Classical Solutions of Field Equations in Randall Sundrum Brane Worlds (D Karasik et al.); Flavor Constraints on Theory Space (E H Simmons et al.); Neutrino Mass Matrix in Terms of Up-Quark Masses (M Bando & M Obara); and other papers. Readership: Graduate students and researchers in high energy physics, particularly those interested in dynamical symmetry breaking and effective field theories."

Strong dynamics constitutes one of the pillars of the standard model of particle interactions, and it accounts for the bulk of the visible matter in the universe made by ordinary protons and neutrons. It is therefore a well posed question to ask if the rest of the universe can be described in terms of new highly natural four-dimensional strongly coupled theories. The main goal of this lecture-based primer is to provide a coherent overview of how new strong dynamics can be employed to address the relevant challenges in particle physics and cosmology from composite Higgs dynamics to dark matter and inflation. We will first introduce the topic of dynamical breaking of the electroweak symmetry also known as technicolor. The knowledge of the phase diagram of strongly coupled theories plays a fundamental role when trying to construct viable extensions of the standard model. Therefore we present the state-of-the-art of the phase diagram for gauge theories as function of the number of colors, flavors, matter representation and gauge group. Recent extensions of the standard model featuring minimal technicolor theories are then introduced as relevant examples. We finally show how technicolor or in general new strongly coupled theories can lead to natural candidates of composite dark matter and inflation.

Gauge symmetries play a central role, both in the mathematical foundations as well as the conceptual construction of modern (particle) physics theories. However, it is yet unclear whether they form a necessary component of theories, or whether they can be eliminated. It is also unclear whether they are merely an auxiliary tool to simplify (and possibly localize) calculations or whether they contain independent information. Therefore their status, both in physics and philosophy of physics, remains to be fully clarified. This Element reviews the current state of affairs on both the philosophy and the physics side. In particular, it focuses on the circumstances in which the restriction of gauge theories to gauge invariant information on an observable level is warranted, using the Brout-Englert-Higgs theory as an example of particular current importance. Finally, the authors determine a set of yet to be answered questions to clarify the status of gauge symmetries.

This is the first systematic volume which presents a detailed introduction to every facet of the modern version of Dynamical Symmetry Breaking which has been rapidly developed in recent years. Most of the lectures are given by pioneers in this new field and are geared mainly to the level of second year graduate students.

The phenomenon of dynamical symmetry breaking (DSB) in quantum field theory is discussed in a detailed and comprehensive way. The deep connection between this phenomenon in condensed matter physics and particle physics is emphasized. The realizations of DSB in such realistic theories as quantum chromodynamics and electroweak theory are considered. Issues intimately connected with DSB such as critical phenomenona and effective lagrangian approach are also discussed.