Related papers: Vacuum Geometry
We analyse symmetry breaking in the Weinberg-Salam model paying particular attention to the underlying geometry of the theory. In this context we find two natural metrics upon the vacuum manifold: an isotropic metric associated with the…
We study gauge theories with/without an extra dimension at finite temperature, in which there are two kinds of order parameters of gauge symmetry breaking. The one is the zero mode of the gauge field for the Euclidean time direction and the…
A geometric mechanism that may, in analogy to similar notions in physics, be considered as "symmetry breaking" in geometry is described, and several instances of this mechanism in differential geometry are discussed: it is shown how…
A new mechanism for symmetry breaking is proposed which naturally avoids the constraints following from the usual theorems of symmetry breaking. In the context of super-symmetry, for example, the breaking may be consistent with a vanishing…
Symmetry, in particular gauge symmetry, is a fundamental principle in theoretical physics. It is intimately connected to the geometry of fibre bundles. A refinement to the gauge principle, known as ``spontaneous symmetry breaking'', leads…
In models inspired by non-commutative geometry, patterns of gauge symmetry breaking are analyzed, and SU(5) models are found to naturally favor a vacuum preserving SU(3) X SU(2) X U(1). A more realistic model is presented, and the…
The concepts of symmetry, symmetry breaking and gauge symmetries are discussed, their operational meaning being displayed by the observables {\em and} the (physical) states. For infinitely extended systems the states fall into physically…
We discuss gauge symmetry breaking in a general framework of gauge theories on an interval. We first derive a possible set of boundary conditions for a scalar field, which are compatible with several consistency requirements. It is shown…
Gauging a symmetry can be thought of as the insertion of a spacetime-filling defect. Accordingly, we regard each gaugeable symmetry in a theory as defining a $-1$-form symmetry via condensation. The resulting operators, called gauge…
Gauge symmetry breaking by boundary conditions on a manifold is known to be equivalent to Wilson-line breaking through a background gauge field, and is therefore spontaneous. These equivalent pictures are related by a non-periodic gauge…
Symmetry is one of the most general and useful concepts in physics. A theory or a system that has a symmetry is fundamentally constrained by it. The same constraints do not apply when the symmetry is broken. The quantitative determination…
The concepts of symmetry and its breakdown are investigated in two different terms according to whether the resulting asymmetry is universal or only obtained for a special configuration: we shall illustrate this by considering in the first…
Theories with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking provide an interesting alternative to the scenario in which the soft terms of the low-energy fields are induced by gravity. These theories allow for a natural suppression of flavour…
For spontaneous breaking of global or gauge symmetry, it is superfluous to assume that the vacuum expectation value of the scalar field manifesting the symmetry is nonvanishing. The vacuum with spontaneous symmetry breaking simply…
It is one of the major issues to realize a vacuum which breaks supersymmetry (SUSY) and R-symmetry, in a supersymmetric model. We study the model, where the same sector breaks the gauge symmetry and SUSY. In general, the SUSY breaking model…
We investigate spontaneous symmetry breaking in a conformally invariant gravitational model. In particular, we use a conformally invariant scalar tensor theory as the vacuum sector of a gravitational model to examine the idea that…
The association of broken symmetries with phase transitions is ubiquitous in condensed matter physics: crystals break translational symmetry, magnets break rotational symmetry, and superconductors break gauge symmetry. However, despite the…
The coupling of topological matter to topological Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions is considered and a model is presented. It is shown that, contrary to the two-dimensional case, this coupling leads to a breaking of the topological…
The theory of symmetry breaking in presence of gauge fields is presented, following the historical track. Particular emphasis is placed upon the underlying concepts.
The gauge symmetry is one of the most important concepts in modern physics, but there are two conflicting views on its meaning or interpretation. The standard view is that local gauge symmetry is the basis of the pursue of fundamental…