Localization of massive fermions on the brane

We construct an explicit model to describe fermions confined on a four dimensional brane embedded in a five dimensional anti--de Sitter spacetime. We extend previous works to accommodate massive bound states on the brane and exhibit the transverse structure of the fermionic fields. We estimate analytically and calculate numerically the fermion mass spectrum on the brane, which we show to be discrete. The confinement lifetime of the bound states is evaluated, and it is shown that existing constraints can be made compatible with the existence of massive fermions trapped on the brane for durations much longer than the age of the Universe.