Fermion boson metamorphosis in field theory

In two-dimensional field theories many features are especially transparent if the Fermi fields are represented by non-local expressions of the Bose fields. Such a procedure is known as boson representation. Bilinear quantities appear in the Lagrangian of a fermion theory transform, however, as simple local expressions of the bosons so that the resulting theory may be written as a theory of bosons. Conversely, a theory of bosons may be transformed into an equivalent theory of fermions. Together they provide a basis for generating many interesting equivalences between theories of different types. In the present work a consistent scheme for constructing a canonical Fermi field in terms of a real scalar field is developed and such a procedure is valid and consistent with the tenets of quantum field theory is verified. A boson formulation offers a unifying theme in understanding the structure of many theories. This is illustrated by the boson formulation of a multifermion theory with chiral and internal symmetries. The nature of dynamical generation of mass when the theory undergoes boson transmutation and the preservation of continuous chiral symmetry in the massive case are examined. The dynamics of the system depends to a great extent on the specific number of fermions and different models of the same system can have very different properties. Many unusual symmetries of the fermion theory, such as hidden symmetry, duality and triality symmetries, are only manifest in the boson formulation. The underlying connections between some models with U(N) internal symmetry and another class of fermion models built with Majorana fermions which have O(2N) internal symmetry are uncovered