Suppose we have relativistic system with spontaneously broken symmetry. For simplicity, let choose broken U(1) symmetry:
L=12(∂μφ)2−V(|φ|),V(|φ|=φ0)=0(1)
Let us parametrize Goldstone degree of freedom, φ=φ0eiθ. Then instead of (1) we will get
L=φ202(∂μθ)2(2)
In fact, this leaves us with undetermined VEV of Goldstone degree of freedom. This VEV corresponds to the coherent state of θ-particles with zero momentum.
Suppose also that instead of (1) we have the lagrangian with small explicit symmetry breaking term, which after substitution of anzats φ=φ0eiθ leads to appearance −φ20m22θ2 extra term in (2):
L′=φ202(∂μθ)2−φ20m2θ22(2′)
The first question: in case of absense of explicit symmetry breaking, can we fix this VEV by some properties of underlying theory? Or it is completely undertermined and may take arbitrary values from 0 to 2π?
The second question: in case of presence of explicit symmetry breaking term, can we immediately state that VEV of θ field is zero due to presence of mass term in (2′) which makes zero contribution in classical energy of θ field only if ⟩θ⟨=0?
The third extra question. Suppose that we know only effective theory with θ field and its interactions with other fields, and the lagrangian takes the form
L″=12(∂μθ)2−∑i∂μθJμici,(3)
where Jiμ denotes some vector or pseudovector currents, in dependence of what θ is. May we strictly state that due to scale invariant form of the lagrangian (3) θ field arises in corresponding effective theory in a way nothing but as goldstone degree of freedom?