Parity Symmetry in QED3

Abstract

Schwinger-Dyson equations are used to study spontaneous chiral and parity symmetry breaking of three dimensional quantum electrodynamics with two-component fermions. This theory admits a topological photon mass that explicitly breaks parity symmetry and generates a fermion mass. We show that the pattern of symmetry breaking maintains parity but breaks chiral symmetry. We also find that chiral symmetry is restored at a critical number of fermion flavours in our truncation scheme. The Coleman-Hill theorem is used to demonstrate that the results are reasonably accurate.