Phase transitions and mass generation in 2+1 dimensions

Abstract
The possibility that the ε expansion can predict the order of phase transitions in three-dimensional field theories is examined. For a Hermitian matrix-value and order parameter, the ε expansion predicts fluctuation-induced first order phase transitions. We analyze two (2+1)-dimensional quantum field theories which exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking and have matrix order parameters. Using the large N expansion, we show that these models exhibit second order transitions and discuss the implications for the chiral-symmetry-breaking transition in (2+1)-dimensional QCD for a critical number of quark flavors.
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