We study a dissipative gauge theory of nonrelativistic fermions in 2+1 dimensions at zero temperature by the Wilsonian renormalization-group method. In this theory, we incorporate in the fermion propagator a new term of the form $ i κ\cdot\sign(ω)$ (where
κ is a parameter and
ω is the fermion frequency), which is usually induced by impurity effects. In the previous papers, we studied this system for
κ=0, and showed that there exists a non-Fermi-liquid infrared fixed point. In this paper, we address the question whether this non-Fermi-liquid behavior remains stable or not in the presence of impurity effects, i.e., the
κ term. Our results show that the non-Fermi-liquid fixed point is unstable for
κ=0 and an effective gauge coupling constant tends to vanish at low energies. However, in intermediate energy scales, the behavior of correlation functions for
κ=0 is controlled by the non-Fermi-liquid fixed point at
κ=0, i.e., a crossover phenomenon appears. Physical implications of this phenomenon are discussed.
We develop a general theory of fermion liquids in spatial dimensions greater than 1. The principal method, bosonization, is applied to the cases of short- and long-range longitudinal interactions and to transverse gauge interactions. All the correlation funtions of the system may be obtained with the use of a generating functional. Short-range and Coulomb interactions do not destroy the Landau-Fermi fixed point. Non-Fermi liquid fixed points are found, however, in the cases of a super-long-range longitudinal interaction in two dimensions and transverse gauge interactions in two and three spatial dimensions. We consider in some detail the (2+1)-dimensional problem of a Chern-Simons gauge action combined with a longitudinal two-body interaction V(q)\ensuremath{\propto}\ensuremath{\Vert}q${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Vert}}}^{\mathit{y}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$, which controls the density, and hence gauge, fluctuations. For y0 we find that the gauge interaction is irrelevant and the Landau fixed point is stable, while for y>0 the interaction is relevant and the fixed point cannot be accessed by bosonization. Of special importance is the case y=0 (Coulomb interaction), which describes the Halperin-Lee-Read theory of the half-filled Landau level. We obtain the full quasiparticle propagator, which is of a marginal Fermi-liquid form. Using Ward identities, we show that neither the inclusion of nonlinear terms in the fermion dispersion nor vertex corrections alters our results: the fixed point is accessible by bosonization. As the two-point fermion Green's function is not gauge invariant, we also invetigate the gauge-invariant density response function. Near momentum Q=2
kF, in addition to the Kohn anomaly we find other nonanalytic behavior. In the appendies we present a numerical calculation of the spectral function for a Fermi liquid with Landau parameter
f0\ensuremath{\ne}0. We also show how Kohn's theorem is satisfied within the bosonization framework.
A renormalization-group analysis combined with bosonization is performed for fermions interacting with repulsive long-range interaction of the form V(R)\ensuremath{\simeq}1/${\mathit{R}}^{(1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}\mathrm{^})}$, 0^\ensuremath{\le}1; we find that in any dimension the system is a non-Fermi liquid with a quasiparticle weight which vanishes like ${\mathit{w}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}\mathrm{^}/4}$ when w\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0. For \ensuremath{\epsilon}^\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0 a marginal Fermi liquid is obtained. A nonperturbative solution is obtained using the bosonization method in d\ensuremath{\ge}1 dimensions. Within the same formalism we investigate also the electron-phonon interaction in dimensions d=3-\ensuremath{\epsilon}. When the coupling constant is imaginary, one obtains a time-dependent potential similar to what is obtained for fermions coupled to transversed U(1) gauge bosons. A non-Fermi-liquid behavior is found for d\ensuremath{\le}3.