Monopoles and chiral-symmetry breaking in three-dimensional lattice QED

The chiral-symmetry order parameter $〈\overline{\chi }\chi 〉$ and the monopole density ${\rho }_m$ are calculated for lattice QED in 2+1 dimensions for zero and two fermion flavors. A comparison of the results for the compact and the noncompact lattice action yields a strong correlation between $〈\overline{\chi }\chi 〉$ and ${\rho }_m$ being essentially independent of the type of lattice action. This is interpreted as evidence that monopole condensation drives chiral-symmetry breaking in three-dimensional lattice QED.