Minimal lattice theory of fermions

A new formalism for Susskind fermions is presented which provides a very efficient method for determining the quantum numbers carried by the components of the fields at various lattice sites. The addition of flavor-dependent mass terms and consequent symmetries are studied as an application. It is shown that removal of the SU(4) flavor symmetry may be accomplished without sacrificing the continuous chiral symmetry. On the basis of the insight gained about the influence of the coupling of modes on the isospin algebra, a free-theory construction with the minimal degeneracy compatible with known no-go theorems is given. That is, we achieve a theory with only two fermions in the continuum limit and a continuous chiral symmetry.