Dual lattice functional renormalization group for the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition: Irrelevance of amplitude and out-of-plane fluctuations
We develop a functional renormalization group (FRG) approach for the two-dimensional XY model by combining the lattice FRG proposed by Machado and Dupuis [Phys. Rev. E 82, 041128 (2010)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.82.041128] with a duality transformation that explicitly introduces vortices via an integer-valued field. We show that the hierarchy of FRG flow equations for the infinite set of relevant and marginal couplings of the model can be reduced to the well-known Kosterlitz-Thouless renormalization group equations for the renormalized temperature and the vortex fugacity. Within our approach it is straightforward to include weak amplitude as well as out-of-plane fluctuations of the spins, which lead to additional interactions between the vortices that do not spoil the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. This demonstrates that previous failures to obtain a line of true fixed points within the FRG are a mathematical artifact of insufficient truncation schemes.
We develop a functional renormalization group (FRG) approach for the two-dimensional XY model by combining the lattice FRG proposed by Machado and Dupuis [Phys. Rev. E 82, 041128 (2010)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.82.041128] with a duality transformation that explicitly introduces vortices via an integer-valued field. We show that the hierarchy of FRG flow equations for the infinite set of relevant and marginal couplings of the model can be reduced to the well-known Kosterlitz-Thouless renormalization group equations for the renormalized temperature and the vortex fugacity. Within our approach it is straightforward to include weak amplitude as well as out-of-plane fluctuations of the spins, which lead to additional interactions between the vortices that do not spoil the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. This demonstrates that previous failures to obtain a line of true fixed points within the FRG are a mathematical artifact of insufficient truncation schemes.
In this chapter, I will briefly review, from my own perspective, the situation within theoretical physics at the beginning of the 1970s, and the advances that played an important role in providing a solid theoretical and experimental foundation for the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless theory (BKT). Over this period, it became clear that the Abelian gauge symmetry of the 2D-XY model had to be preserved to get the right phase structure of the model. In previous analyses, this symmetry was broken when using low order calculational approximations. Duality transformations at that time for two-dimensional models with compact gauge symmetries were introduced by José, Kadanoff, Nelson and Kirkpatrick (JKKN). Their goal was to analyze the phase structure and excitations of XY and related models, including symmetry breaking fields which are experimentally important. In a separate context, Migdal had earlier developed an approximate Renormalization Group (RG) algorithm to implement Wilson’s RG for lattice gauge theories. Although Migdal’s RG approach, later extended by Kadanoff, did not produce a true phase transition for the XY model, it almost did asymptotically in terms of a non-perturbative expansion in the coupling constant with an essential singularity. Using these advances, including work done on instantons (vortices), JKKN analyzed the behavior of the spin–spin correlation functions of the 2D XY-model in terms of an expansion in temperature and vortex-pair fugacity. Their analysis led to a perturbative derivation of RG equations for the XY model which are the same as those first derived by Kosterlitz for the two-dimensional Coulomb gas. JKKN’s results gave a theoretical formulation foundation and justification for BKT’s sound physical assumptions and for the validity of their calculational approximations that were, in principle, strictly valid only at very low temperatures, away from the critical [Formula: see text] temperature. The theoretical predictions were soon tested successfully against experimental results on superfluid helium films. The success of the BKT theory also gave one of the first quantitative proofs of the validity of the RG theory.
Nonperturbative RG treatment of amplitude fluctuations for ∣φ∣4 topological phase transitions
The study of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in two-dimensional ∣φ∣4 models can be performed in several representations, and the amplitude-phase (AP) Madelung parametrization is a natural way to study the contribution of density fluctuations to nonuniversal quantities. We introduce a functional renormalization group scheme in AP representation where amplitude fluctuations are integrated first to yield an effective sine-Gordon model with renormalized superfluid stiffness. By a mapping between the lattice XY and continuum ∣φ∣4 models, our method applies to both on equal footing. Our approach correctly reproduces the existence of a line of fixed points and of universal thermodynamics and it allows to estimate universal and nonuniversal quantities of the two models, finding good agreement with available Monte Carlo results. The presented approach is flexible enough to treat parameter ranges of experimental relevance.
We analyze the interplay of thermal amplitude and phase fluctuations in a U(1) symmetric two-dimensional ϕ4-theory. To this end, we derive coupled renormalization group equations for both types of fluctuations. Discarding the amplitude fluctuations, the expected Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase characterized by a finite phase stiffness and an algebraic decay of order parameter correlations is recovered at low temperatures. However, in contrast to the widespread expectation, amplitude fluctuations are not innocuous, since their mass vanishes due to a strong renormalization by phase fluctuations. Even at low temperatures the amplitude fluctuations lead to a logarithmic renormalization group flow of the phase stiffness, which ultimately vanishes. Hence, the BKT phase is strictly speaking replaced by a symmetric phase with a finite correlation length, which is however exponentially large at low temperatures. The vortex-driven BKT transition is then rounded to a crossover, which may be practically indistinguishable from a true phase transition in real systems such as 4He-films.
The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) mechanism describes universal vortex unbinding in many two-dimensional systems, including the paradigmatic XY model. However, most of these systems present a complex interplay between excitations at different length scales that complicates theoretical calculations of nonuniversal thermodynamic quantities. These difficulties may be overcome by suitably modifying the initial conditions of the BKT flow equations to account for noncritical fluctuations at small length scales. In this work, we perform a systematic study of the validity and limits of this two-step approach by constructing optimised initial conditions for the BKT flow. We find that the two-step approach can accurately reproduce the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the traditional XY model. To systematically study the interplay between vortices and spin-wave excitations, we introduce a modified XY model with increased vortex fugacity. We present large-scale Monte Carlo simulations of the spin stiffness and vortex density for this modified XY model and show that even at large vortex fugacity, vortex unbinding is accurately described by the nonperturbative functional renormalization group.
The study of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in two-dimensional ${|\ensuremath{\varphi}|}^{4}$ models can be performed in several representations, and the amplitude-phase (AP) Madelung parametrization is a natural way to study the contribution of density fluctuations to nonuniversal quantities. We introduce a functional renormalization group scheme in AP representation where amplitude fluctuations are integrated first to yield an effective sine-Gordon model with renormalized superfluid stiffness. By a mapping between the lattice XY and continuum ${|\ensuremath{\varphi}|}^{4}$ models, our method applies to both on equal footing. Our approach correctly reproduces the existence of a line of fixed points and of universal thermodynamics and it allows to estimate universal and nonuniversal quantities of the two models, finding good agreement with available Monte Carlo results. The presented approach is flexible enough to treat parameter ranges of experimental relevance.
We recapitulate recent developments of the functional renormalization group (FRG) approach to the steady state of systems out of thermal equilibrium. In particular, we discuss second-order truncation schemes which account for the frequency-dependence of the two particle vertex and which incorporate inelastic processes. Our focus is on two different types of one-dimensional fermion chains: i) infinite, open systems which feature a translation symmetry, and ii) finite systems coupled to left and right reservoirs. In addition to giving a detailed and unified review of the technical derivation of the FRG schemes, we briefly summarize some of the key physical results. In particular, we compute the non-equilibrium phase diagram and analyze the fate of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in the infinite, open system.