Eur. Phys. J. C (2012) 72: 2024
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-012-2024-z

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Zeta function regularization, anomaly and complex mass term

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Calcutta, 700064, India

^* e-mail: parthasarathi.mitra@saha.ac.in

Received: 16 April 2012
Revised: 26 April 2012
Published online: 31 May 2012

Abstract

If zeta function regularization is used and a complex mass term considered for fermions, the phase does not appear in the fermion determinant. This is not a drawback of the regularization, which can recognize the phase through source terms, as demonstrated by the anomaly equation which is explicitly derived here for a complex mass term.