Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: We reconsider the phenomenon of mass generation via coordinate-dependent compactifications of higher-dimensional theories on orbifolds. For definiteness, we study a generic five-dimensional theory compactified on S(1)/Z(2). We show that the presence of fixed points, where the fields or their derivatives may be discontinuous, permits new realizations of the Scherk-Schwarz mechanism where, for example, the mass terms are localized at the orbifold fixed points. Our technique can be used to describe the explicit breaking of global flavor symmetries and supersymmetries by brane-localized mass terms. It can also be applied to the spontaneous breaking of local symmetries, such as gauge symmetries or supergravities.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2128425150