SU(2) x U(1) Yang-Mills theories in 3d with Higgs field and Gribov ambiguity

Abstract

We study the structure of the gauge propagators of a 3d version of the electroweak interaction in terms of the Higgs vacuum expectation value nu, of the non-Abelian gauge coupling g, and of the Abelian gauge coupling g', when nonperturbative effects related to the non-Abelian gauge fixing are introduced by means of an adapted path integral measure. In the perturbative regime of small non-Abelian coupling g and sufficiently large nu, the well-known standard Z and W propagators are recovered, together with a massless photon. In general, depending on the relative magnitudes of g, g' and nu, we uncover a quite different propagator structure. In a later stage of research, the results here derived can be used to study the associated phase diagram in more depth.