Gauge invariant derivative expansion of the effective action at finite temperature and density and the scalar field in 2+1 dimensions

Abstract

A method is presented for the computation of the one-loop effective action at finite temperature and density. The method is based on an expansion in the number of spatial covariant derivatives. It applies to general background field configurations with arbitrary internal symmetry group and space-time dependence. Full invariance under small and large gauge transformations is preserved without assuming stationary or Abelian fields nor fixing the gauge. The method is applied to the computation of the effective action of spin zero particles in 2+1 dimensions at finite temperature and density and in presence of background gauge fields. The calculation is carried out through second order in the number of spatial covariant derivatives. Some limiting cases are worked out.

34 pages, REVTEX, no figures. Further comments added

References in corpus (4)

• Zeta Functions and the Casimir Energy
• Relativistic Quantum Thermodynamics of Ideal Gases in 2 Dimensions
• Finite Temperature Effective Action in Monopole Background
• Large Gauge Ward Identity

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• The method of covariant symbols in curved space-time
• The induced Chern-Simons term at finite temperature
• Direct construction of the effective action of chiral gauge fermions in the anomalous sector