Simulations of SU(2) lattice gauge theory with dynamical reduced staggered fermions

We simulate SU(2) lattice gauge theory in four dimensions using dynamical reduced staggered fermions. The latter lead to two rather than four Dirac fermions in the continuum limit. We review the derivation and properties of reduced staggered fermions and show that in the case of fields in the fundamental representation of SU(2) the theory does not exhibit a sign problem and can be simulated using the rational hybrid monte carlo algorithm. We present results on lattices up to 16(4) for a wide range of bare fermion masses. We find a single site condensate appears at strong coupling that spontaneously breaks the one global U(1) symmetry remaining in the reduced fermion action.