In the context of a phase transition, the critical singularity is characterized by a set of numbers, the critical exponents. It is widely believed that for transitions in systems with pair interactions on Bravais lattices (as opposed to hierarchical lattices), the critical exponents are determined solely by parameters d and n, representing the dimensionality of space and of the order parameter, respectively, and by \ensuremath{\sigma}, the interaction range. In this paper we consider a certain generalization of the Lifshitz singularity in the n-vector model in which a new parameter \ensuremath{\lambda}, describing a type of anisotropy of the interactions, is introduced. This is described by a model Hamiltonian in k space in which the leading term is of the form [${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\mathit{i}=1}^{\mathit{d}}$(
ki2${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\sigma}}/(2\ensuremath{\lambda})}$]\ensuremath{\lambda}. It should be noted that, as for the usual Lifshitz case, what would otherwise be the dominant
k2 term is supposed to have already been cancelled. For this model the parameters d, n, and \ensuremath{\sigma} are not sufficient to determine the value of the critical exponents to O(1/n), although they are sufficient for the first order in the \ensuremath{\epsilon} expansion.Calculations exact to O(1/n) show that, for a given set d, n, and \ensuremath{\sigma}, the exponents vary continuously with the parameter \ensuremath{\lambda} and include as a special case (for \ensuremath{\lambda}=1) the critical exponents for an anisotropic Lifshitz point. The critical exponents for this Lifshitz point differ markedly in value from those for the usually studied isotropic Lifshitz point, which is also a special case (for \ensuremath{\lambda}=\ensuremath{\sigma}/2) of our model. For \ensuremath{\sigma}=2, however, the two cases corresponding to \ensuremath{\lambda}=1 and \ensuremath{\sigma}/2 become degenerate. We provide another explicit example of the dependence of the critical exponents on \ensuremath{\lambda} by performing, in addition to the 1/n expansion, an expansion in \ensuremath{\sigma}-2. This helps to shed some light on the approach to the degeneracy at \ensuremath{\sigma}=2. The analysis of the Feynman integrals arising in the O(1/n) calculation provides interesting examples of the applications of hypergeometric functions; these integrals have themselves led to new results (published separately) in the theory of hypergeometric functions.
Field-theoretic renormalization-group methods are developed to describe in a unified fashion the critical exponents of an m-fold Lifshitz point at the two-loop order in the anisotropic $(m\ensuremath{\ne}d)$ and isotropic
(m=d close to 8) situations. The general theory is illustrated for the N-vector ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{4}$ model describing a d-dimensional system. A new regularization and renormalization procedure is presented for both types of Lifshitz behavior. The anisotropic cases are formulated with two independent renormalization-group transformations. The description of the isotropic behavior requires only one type of renormalization-group transformation. We point out the conceptual advantages implicit in this picture and show how this framework is related to other previous renormalization-group treatments for the Lifshitz problem. The Feynman diagrams of arbitrary loop order can be performed analytically provided these integrals are considered to be homogeneous functions of the external momenta scales. The anisotropic universality class
(N,d,m) reduces easily to the Ising-like
(N,d) when
m=0. We show that the isotropic universality class
(N,m) when m is close to 8 cannot be obtained from the anisotropic one in the limit $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{d}m$ near 8. The exponents for the uniaxial case
d=3,N=m=1 are in good agreement with recent Monte Carlo simulations for the axial next-nearest-neighbor Ising model.
A two-loop renormalization group analysis of the critical behaviour at an isotropic Lifshitz point is presented. Using dimensional regularization and minimal subtraction of poles, we obtain the expansions of the critical exponents ν and η, the crossover exponent φ, as well as the (related) wave vector exponent β q and the correction-to-scaling exponent ω to second order in 8 = 8 − d . They are compared with the authors' recent -expansion results (2000 Phys. Rev. B 62 12338, 2001 Nucl. Phys. B 612 340) for the general case of an m -axial Lifshitz point. It is shown that the expansions obtained here by a direct calculation for the isotropic ( m = d ) Lifshitz point all follow from the latter upon setting m = 8 − 8 . This is so despite recent claims to the contrary by de Albuquerque and Leite (2002 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 35 1807).
A new renormalization group treatment is proposed for the critical exponents of an m-fold Lifshitz point. The anisotropic cases (m not equal 8) are described by two independent fixed points associated to two independent momentum flow along the quadratic and quartic directions, respectively. The isotropic case is described separately. In that case, the fixed point is due to renormalization group transformations along the quartic directions. The new scaling laws are derived for both cases and generalize the ones previously reported.
The critical behavior of d-dimensional systems with an n-component order parameter is reconsidered at (m,d,n)-Lifshitz points, where a wave-vector instability occurs in an m-dimensional subspace of
Rd. Our aim is to sort out which ones of the previously published partly contradictory \ensuremath{\epsilon}-expansion results to second order in $\ensuremath{\epsilon}=4+m/2\ensuremath{-}d$ are correct. To this end, a field-theory calculation is performed directly in the position space of $d=4+m/2\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ dimensions, using dimensional regularization and minimal subtraction of ultraviolet poles. The residua of the dimensionally regularized integrals that are required to determine the series expansions of the correlation exponents ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{l2}$ and ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{l4}$ and of the wave-vector exponent ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{q}$ to order ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2}$ are reduced to single integrals, which for general $m=1,\dots{},d\ensuremath{-}1$ can be computed numerically, and for special values of m, analytically. Our results are at variance with the original predictions for general m. For
m=2 and
m=6, we confirm the results of Sak and Grest [Phys. Rev. B 17, 3602 (1978)] and Mergulh\~ao and Carneiro's recent field-theory analysis [Phys. Rev. B 59, 13 954 (1999)].
We use field theory to calculate the critical exponents ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{l2},$ ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{l4},$ ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{l2},$ and ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{l4}$ for the Lifshitz point (LP) with
m=2 and
m=6. We were motivated by an old controversy on the order ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2}$ corrections for the exponents of this multicritical point. In a previous paper, we studied the renormalization of the theory that describes the LP and derived expressions for the exponents and scaling relations that hold to all orders in perturbation. In this work we concentrate on the calculation of the Feynman diagrams that are involved in the determination of the exponents and present our results for the exponents to order ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2}.$ The evaluation of these diagrams, due to a free propagator that contains a quartic term in the momentum and is not rotationally invariant, requires special techniques that are presented in detail in the appendixes.