CHIRAL-SYMMETRY BREAKING IN A FINITE-VOLUME

Abstract

In the context of the N-component four-fermion model in 2 + 1 dimensions we investigate the effects of a finite volume and boundary conditions on chiral-symmetry restoration in the large-N limit using the effective potential formalism. We obtain the critical lines, which separate the chirally symmetric phase from the broken phase, in terms of an infinite-volume fermion mass and system size for three types of boundary conditions.