Gauge Independence and Chiral Symmetry Breaking in a Strong Magnetic Field

Abstract

The gauge independence of the dynamical fermion mass generated through chiral symmetry breaking in QED in a strong, constant external magnetic field is critically examined. We present a (first, to the best of our knowledge) consistent truncation of the Schwinger-Dyson equations in the lowest Landau level approximation. We demonstrate that the dynamical fermion mass, obtained as the solution of the truncated Schwinger-Dyson equations evaluated on the fermion mass shell, is manifestly gauge independent.

Comments: 10 pages, 1 eps figure, version to appear in Annals of Physics