Gauge invariance and the Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism in non-Hermitian field theories

Alexandre, Jean; Ellis, John; Millington, Peter; Seynaeve, Dries

Abstract

We discuss PT-symmetric Abelian gauge field theories as well as their extension to the Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism for generating a mass for a vector boson. Gauge invariance is not straightforward, and we discuss the different related problems as well as a solution which consists in coupling the gauge field to a current that is not conserved. Non-Hermiticity then necessarily precludes the Lorenz gauge condition but nevertheless allows for a consistent formulation of the theory. We therefore generalize the Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism to PT-symmetric field theories, opening the way to constructing non-Hermitian extensions of the Standard Model and new scenarios for particle model building.

Citation

Alexandre, J., Ellis, J., Millington, P., & Seynaeve, D. (2019). Gauge invariance and the Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism in non-Hermitian field theories. Physical Review D, 99(7), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.99.075024

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 18, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 19, 2019
• Publication Date: Apr 19, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 22, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 29, 2019
• Journal: Physical Review D
• Print ISSN: 2470-0010
• Electronic ISSN: 2470-0029
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 99
• Issue: 7
• Article Number: 075024
• Pages: 1-9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.99.075024
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1834390
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.075024
• Contract Date: Apr 29, 2019