Nonlocal four-fermion theory

Abstract

In this work, we formulate and analyze a nonlocal four-fermion theory in which the usual Dirac operator is deformed by an entire nonlocal form factor. After introducing an auxiliary scalar field, we derive the mean-field effective action and the corresponding gap equation for the dynamical mass. A central technical point of the analysis is that the nonlocal form factor is a matrix function of the Dirac operator, so the inverse propagator must be treated as an element of the closed algebra generated by the identity and $\not{\!p}$ operators, rather than as a purely scalar quantity. We obtain explicit expressions for the gap kernel for two representative choices of a form factor, $f_{I}(\not{\!\partial})=e^{-\not{\partial}/Λ}$ and $f_{II}(\not{\!\partial})=e^{-i\not{\partial}/Λ}$. Following the IR/UV matching method used in the recent Dirac-like nonlocal spinor theory [1], the momentum integral is split at an intermediate scale $M\ll Ω\ll Λ$, expanded analytically in the infrared and ultraviolet regions, and compared with the usual local NJL/Gross-Neveu result. We show that the hyperbolic form factor enhances the gap integral and lowers the critical coupling, whereas the oscillatory form factor suppresses it and raises the critical coupling. The finite-temperature and finite-density extension is formulated through Matsubara sums and a corrected contour representation, with the local thermal gap equation recovered in the limit $Λ\to\infty$.