Non-compact QED3 with Nf ≥ 2

Non-compact three-dimensional QED is studied by computer simulations to understand its chiral symmetry breaking features for N-f greater than or equal to 2, on lattice volumes up to 50(3) and bare masses as low as m(0)a = 0.0000625. We compute the chiral condensate, scalar and pseudoscalar susceptibilities, and the masses of scalar and pseudoscalar mesons. Finite volume effects and discretisation artifacts are carefully monitored. Our results reveal no decisive signal for chiral symmetry breaking for any N-f greater than or equal to 2. For N-f = 2 the dimensionless condensate can be bounded by beta(2)[(psi) over bar psi] less than or equal to 5 x 10(-5). We also present an exploratory study of the fractionally-charged Polyakov line. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.