Gauge independence of the physical fermion mass in the effective action of theories with radiative symmetry breaking

Abstract

I consider an Abelian gauge theory, with a complex scalar field and massless, chiral fermions, in the limit where the couplings and the interactions induce radiative symmetry breaking, and I derive and verify the Nielsen identities that ensure the gauge independence of the physical fermion mass that emerges in the broken phase of the effective action.