On the decoupling of mirror fermions

Abstract: An approach to the formulation of chiral gauge theories on the lattice is to start with a vector-like theory, but decouple one chirality (the "mirror" fermions) using strong Yukawa interactions with a chirally coupled "Higgs" field. While this is an attractive idea, its viability needs to be tested with nonperturbative studies. The model that we study here, the so-called "3-4-5" model, is anomaly free and the presence of massless states in the mirror sector is not required by anomaly matching arguments, in contrast to the "1-0" model that was studied previously. We have computed the polarization tensor in this theory and find a directional discontinuity that appears to be nonzero in the limit of an infinite lattice, which is equivalent to the continuum limit at fixed physical volume. We show that a similar behavior occurs for the free massless Ginsparg-Wilson fermion, where the polarization tensor is known to have a directional discontinuity in the continuum limit. We thus find support for the conclusion that in the continuum limit of the 3-4-5 model, there are massless charged modes in the mirror sector so that it does not decouple from the light sector. The value of the discontinuity we obtain allows for two interpretations: either a chiral gauge theory does not emerge and mirror-sector fermions in a chiral anomaly free representation remain massless, or a massless vectorlike mirror fermion appears. We end by discussing some questions for future study.