Massive Jackiw-Rebbi Model

In this paper we analyze a generalized Jackiw-Rebbi (J-R) model in which a massive fermion is coupled to the kink of the $\lambda\phi^4$ model as a prescribed background field. We solve this massive J-R model exactly and analytically and obtain the whole spectrum of the fermion, including the bound and continuum states. The mass term of the fermion makes the potential of the decoupled second order Schrodinger-like equations asymmetric in a way that their asymptotic values at two spatial infinities are different. Therefore, we encounter the unusual problem in which two kinds of continuum states are possible for the fermion: reflecting and scattering states. We then show the energies of all the states as a function of the parameters of the kink, i.e. its value at spatial infinity ($\theta_0$) and its slope at $x=0$ ($\mu$). The graph of the energies as a function of $\theta_0$, where the bound state energies and the two kinds of continuum states are depicted, shows peculiar features including an energy gap in the form of a triangle where no bound states exist. That is the zero mode exists only for $\theta_0$ larger than a critical value $(\theta_0^{\textrm{c}})$. This is in sharp contrast to the usual (massless) J-R model where the zero mode and hence the fermion number $\pm1/2$ for the ground state is ever present. This also makes the origin of the zero mode very clear: It is formed from the union of the two threshold bound states at $\theta_0^{\textrm{c}}$, which is zero in the massless J-R model.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

An Investigation of the Casimir Energy for a Fermion Coupled to the Sine-Gordon Soliton with Parity Decomposition

We consider a fermion chirally coupled to a prescribed pseudoscalar field in the form of the soliton of the sine-Gordon model and calculate and investigate the Casimir energy and all of the relevant quantities for each parity channel, separately. We present and use a simple prescription to construct the simultaneous eigenstates of the Hamiltonian and parity in the continua from the scattering states. We also use a prescription we had introduced earlier to calculate unique expressions for the phase shifts and check their consistency with both the weak and strong forms of the Levinson theorem. In the graphs of the total and parity decomposed Casimir energies as a function of the parameters of the pseudoscalar field distinctive deformations appear whenever a fermionic bound state energy level with definite parity crosses the line of zero energy. However, the latter graphs reveal some properties of the system which cannot be seen from the graph of the total Casimir energy. Finally we consider a system consisting of a valence fermion in the ground state and find that the most energetically favorable configuration is the one with a soliton of winding number one, and this conclusion does not hold for each parity, separately.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Vacuum Polarization and Casimir Energy of a Dirac Field Induced by a Scalar Potential in One Spatial Dimension

We investigate the vacuum polarization and the Casimir energy of a Dirac field coupled to a scalar potential in one spatial dimension. Both of these effects have a common cause which is the distortion of the spectrum due to the coupling with the background field. Choosing the potential to be a symmetrical square-well, the problem becomes exactly solvable and we can find the whole spectrum of the system, analytically. We show that the total number of states and the total density remain unchanged as compared with the free case, as one expects. Furthermore, since the positive- and negative-energy eigenstates of the fermion are fermion-number conjugates of each other and there is no zero-energy bound state, the total density and the total number of negative and positive states remain unchanged, separately. Therefore, the vacuum polarization in this model is zero for any choice of the parameters of the potential. It is important to note that although the vacuum polarization is zero due to the symmetries of the model, the Casimir energy of the system is not zero in general. In the graph of the Casimir energy as a function of the depth of the well there is a maximum approximately when the bound energy levels change direction and move back towards their continuum of origin. The Casimir energy for a fixed value of the depth is a linear function of the width and is always positive. Moreover, the Casimir energy density (the energy density of all the negative-energy states) and the energy density of all the positive-energy states are exactly the mirror images of each other. Finally, computing the total energy of a valence fermion present in the lowest fermionic bound state, taking into account the Casimir energy, we find that the lowest bound state is almost always unstable for the scalar potential.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure