Flux breaking of E6 in the generalised Hosotani model

To break gauge symmetries in the Hosotani model, it is necessary to include periodic (Dirac) fermions and/or antiperiodic scalars which transform as single-valued faithful representations of the adjoint group. With this in mind, an E6 Yang-Mills theory minimally coupled to periodic adjoint and antiperiodic fundamental fermions is examined. On breaking, even though the full rank six residual group depends on the numbers of spacetime dimensions and fermion families, the fundamental fermions surviving compactification only transform non-trivially under the omnipresent [SU(3)]2 or SU(6) subgroup factors. (orig.)