Spontaneous breaking of parity in (2+1)-dimensional QED

Abstract

The spontaneous generation of parity- ($P$) and time-reversal- ($T$) violating masses in (2+1)-dimensional QED is studied in the large-$N$ limit, where $N$ is the number of two-component complex fermions. Energy considerations of various symmetry-breaking patterns indicate that $P$ and $T$ are not spontaneously broken, even though masses which individually violate these symmetries are dynamically generated.