A novel mass generation scheme for an Abelian vector field

A novel mass generation procedure for an Abelian vector field is proposed. This procedure is based on the construction of a class of gauge theories whose free limit describes a free massless vector field and a set of massless real scalar fields by means of the antifield-BRST deformation technique. The relationship between our results and those arising from the Higgs mechanism based on the spontaneous symmetry breaking of an Abelian gauge symmetry is emphasized. Some examples with one, two, and three scalars are given.