  Symmetry breaking patterns of the U(n)_L x U(n)_R symmetric meson model are
investigated in a formulation involving three auxiliary composite fields. The
effective potential is constructed at leading order in the 1/n expansion for a
condensate belonging to the center of the U(n) group. A wide region is found in
the coupling space where in addition to the condensate proportional to the unit
matrix, also metastable minima exist, in which a further breakdown of the
diagonal U_V(n) symmetry to U_V(n-1) is realized. Application of a moderate
external field conjugate to this component of the order parameter changes this
state into the true ground state of the system.
