Analytic and numerical results on the chiral transition in SU(2) lattice gauge-Higgs theory with fermions

Abstract

We present an analytic study of the (zero-temperature) chiral symmetry-breaking phase transition in SU(2) lattice gauge-Higgs theory with fermions, relevant to the SU(2) sector of the standard electroweak theory. The transition is found to be second-order and the critical gauge-Higgs coupling is calculated in the limit of strong gauge coupling. New Monte Carlo measurements for quenched I = 1 2 fermions are presented and found to be in excellent agreement with the analytic results, which are not limited to the quenched approximation.