TY - JOUR
T1 - Gauge invariance and the Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism in non-Hermitian field theories
AU - Alexandre, Jean
AU - Ellis, Jonathan
AU - Millington, Peter
AU - Seynaeve, Dries
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - We discuss PT -symmetric Abelian gauge field theories as well as their extension to the Englert-Brout Higgs mechanism for generating a mass for a vector boson. Gauge invariance is not straightforward, and we discuss the different related problems as well as a solution which consists in coupling the gauge field to a current that is not conserved. Non-Hermiticity then necessarily precludes the Lorenz gauge condition but nevertheless allows for a consistent formulation of the theory. We therefore generalize the Englert-Brout Higgs mechanism to PT -symmetric field theories, opening the way to constructing non-Hermitian extensions of the Standard Model and new scenarios for particle model building.
AB - We discuss PT -symmetric Abelian gauge field theories as well as their extension to the Englert-Brout Higgs mechanism for generating a mass for a vector boson. Gauge invariance is not straightforward, and we discuss the different related problems as well as a solution which consists in coupling the gauge field to a current that is not conserved. Non-Hermiticity then necessarily precludes the Lorenz gauge condition but nevertheless allows for a consistent formulation of the theory. We therefore generalize the Englert-Brout Higgs mechanism to PT -symmetric field theories, opening the way to constructing non-Hermitian extensions of the Standard Model and new scenarios for particle model building.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065159499&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevD.99.075024
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevD.99.075024
M3 - Article
SN - 1550-7998
VL - 99
JO - Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology)
JF - Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology)
IS - 7
M1 - 075024
ER -