We employ the second order of the derivative expansion of the nonperturbative renormalization group to study cubic (Z_{4}-symmetric) perturbations to the classical XY model in dimensionality d∈[2,4]. In d=3 we provide accurate estimates of the eigenvalue y_{4} corresponding to the leading irrelevant perturbation and follow the evolution of the physical picture upon reducing spatial dimensionality from d=3 towards d=2, where we approximately recover the onset of the Kosterlitz-Thouless physics. We analyze the interplay between the leading irrelevant eigenvalues related to O(2)-symmetric and Z_{4}-symmetric perturbations and their approximate collapse for d→2. We compare and discuss different implementations of the derivative expansion in cases involving one and two invariants of the corresponding symmetry group.
We employ the second order of the derivative expansion of the nonperturbative renormalization group to study cubic (Z_{4}-symmetric) perturbations to the classical XY model in dimensionality d∈[2,4]. In d=3 we provide accurate estimates of the eigenvalue y_{4} corresponding to the leading irrelevant perturbation and follow the evolution of the physical picture upon reducing spatial dimensionality from d=3 towards d=2, where we approximately recover the onset of the Kosterlitz-Thouless physics. We analyze the interplay between the leading irrelevant eigenvalues related to O(2)-symmetric and Z_{4}-symmetric perturbations and their approximate collapse for d→2. We compare and discuss different implementations of the derivative expansion in cases involving one and two invariants of the corresponding symmetry group.
We solve the nonperturbative renormalization-group flow equations for the two-dimensional XY model at the truncation level of the (complete) second-order derivative expansion. We compute the thermodynamic properties in the high-temperature phase and compare the nonuniversal features specific to the XY model with results from Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, we study the position and magnitude of the specific-heat peak as a function of temperature. The obtained results compare well with Monte Carlo simulations. We additionally gauge the accuracy of simplified nonperturbative renormalization-group treatments relying on ϕ^{4}-type truncations. Our computation indicates that such an approximation is insufficient in the high-T phase and a correct analysis of the specific-heat profile requires account of an infinite number of interaction vertices.
The functional renormalization group (FRG) is a powerful tool that has facilitated the investigation of various strongly interacting theories, encompassing systems characterized by both bosonic and fermionic variables. Specifically, this project focuses on the analysis of theories with O(N) symmetry with bosonic scalar fields. These theories are of particular interest due to their broad applicability in real physical systems. For example, Z2 symmetry (the O(1) model) describes the well-known Ising universality class, which in turn models the liquid-gas transition. On the other hand, the O(2) model belongs to the universality class of the XY model, used to describe the transition from fluid to superfluid in 4 He, while the O(3) model, known as the Heisenberg model, describes the ferromagnetic transition in isotropic materials. Finally the O(0) model is related to the self-avoiding walk (SAW). To characterize these theories, various methods have been implemented within the framework of the renormalization group. Perturbation theory has been applied since the early days of the subject, specifically in the form of the ε-expansion, which has reached high loop order in recent years. Alternatively, a non-perturbative approach can be chosen, which is known as the non-perturbative renormalization group (NPRG). Within the NPRG, there are several approximation schemes, with the derivative expansion being particularly noteworthy. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to calculate the critical exponents, which define the given universality class. The standard non-perturbative method involves solving an equation that depends on a regulator or cut-off, which represents one of the main challenges of this approach. Although the regulators are designed so that the theory does not depend on them at the scales of interest, the results for the critical exponents can vary depending on the regulator used once approximations are made. In this project, we propose an approach that eliminates the need for an explicit mass cut-off significantly simplifying the calculation of critical exponents while mitigating the regulator dependence of the results. In particular, we show that it is possible to use dimensional regularization (DR) beyond the ε-expansion in the context of RG calculations of critical properties. Based on this we propose a new functional RG scheme called Functional Dimensional Regularization (FDR) and apply it to the O(N) model in three dimension, finding excellent agreement with state-of-the-art computations
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.
We study the three-component ${\ensuremath{\phi}}^{4}$ model on the simple cubic lattice in the presence of a cubic perturbation. To this end, we perform Monte Carlo simulations in conjunction with a finite-size scaling analysis of the data. The analysis of the renormalization group (RG) flow of a dimensionless quantity provides us with the accurate estimate ${Y}_{4}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{2}=0.000\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}81(7)$ for the difference of the RG eigenvalue Y4 at the O(3)-symmetric fixed point and the correction exponent ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{2}$ at the cubic fixed point. We determine an effective exponent ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\text{eff}}$ of the correlation length that depends on the strength of the breaking of the O(3) symmetry. Field theory predicts that depending on the sign of the cubic perturbation, the RG flow is attracted by the cubic fixed point, or runs to an ever increasing amplitude, indicating a fluctuation-induced first-order phase transition. We demonstrate directly the first-order nature of the phase transition for a sufficiently strong breaking of the O(3) symmetry. We obtain accurate results for the latent heat, the correlation length in the disordered phase at the transition temperature, and the interface tension for interfaces between one of the ordered phases and the disordered phase. We study how these quantities scale with the RG flow, allowing quantitative predictions for weaker breaking of the O(3) symmetry.
For the classical N-vector model, with arbitrary N, we have computed through order ${\ensuremath{\beta}}^{17}$ the high-temperature expansions of the second field derivative of the susceptibility ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{4}(N,\ensuremath{\beta})$ on the simple cubic and on the body centered cubic lattices. [The N-vector model is also known as the O(N) symmetric classical spin Heisenberg model or, in quantum field theory, as the lattice O(N) nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ model.] By analyzing the expansion of ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{4}(N,\ensuremath{\beta})$ on the two lattices, and by carefully allowing for the corrections to scaling, we obtain updated estimates of the critical parameters and more accurate tests of the hyperscaling relation $d\ensuremath{\nu}(N)+\ensuremath{\gamma}(N)\ensuremath{-}2{\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{4}(N)=0$ for a range of values of the spin dimensionality N, including N=0 (the self-avoiding walk model), N=1 (the Ising spin 1/2 model), N=2 (the XY model), N=3 (the classical Heisenberg model). Using the recently extended series for the susceptibility and for the second correlation moment, we also compute the dimensionless renormalized four point coupling constants and some universal ratios of scaling correction amplitudes in fair agreement with recent renormalization group estimates.