This chapter examines the universal properties of phase transitions in the quasi-Gaussian or mean-field approximations. It studies the singularities of thermodynamic functions at the transition point as well as the large-distance behaviour of the two-point correlation function. It summarizes the universal properties in the form of Landau′s theory. It stresses the peculiarities of models with continuous symmetries at low temperature due to the appearance of Goldstone modes. Finally, it evaluates corrections to the quasi-Gaussian approximation and shows that the approximation is only consistent in space dimension larger than four. Exercises are provided at the end of the chapter.
This chapter examines the universal properties of phase transitions in the quasi-Gaussian or mean-field approximations. It studies the singularities of thermodynamic functions at the transition point as well as the large-distance behaviour of the two-point correlation function. It summarizes the universal properties in the form of Landau′s theory. It stresses the peculiarities of models with continuous symmetries at low temperature due to the appearance of Goldstone modes. Finally, it evaluates corrections to the quasi-Gaussian approximation and shows that the approximation is only consistent in space dimension larger than four. Exercises are provided at the end of the chapter.
Abstract This chapter is devoted to a brief review of general properties of phase transitions in macroscopic physics and, in particular in lattice models. Some of these lattice models actually appear as lattice regularizations of Euclidean (imaginary time) quantum physics theory (QFT). Most of the transitions considered in this work have the following character: spins on the lattice, or macroscopic particles in the continuum, interact through short-range forces, assumed, for simplicity, to decay exponentially. For simple systems, it is possible to find a local observable, called order parameter, whose expectation values depend on the phase in the several phase region, for example, the spin in ferromagnetic systems. In the disordered phase, the connected two-point function decreases exponentially at large distance, at a rate characterized by the correlation length (the inverse of the smallest physical mass in particle physics). In continuous transitions, the correlation length diverges at the critical temperature. Within the mean-field approximation (consistent with Landau's theory of critical phenomena), it can be shown that the singular behaviour of thermodynamic quantities at the critical temperature is universal. These properties can also be reproduced by calculating correlation functions with a perturbed Gaussian measure. It is then shown that the leading corrections to the mean-field approximation, in Ising-like systems, diverge at the critical temperature for dimensions smaller than or equal to 4.
This book provides an elementary introduction to the notions of continuum limit and universality in statistical systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. The existence of a continuum limit requires the appearance of correlations at large distance, a situation that is encountered in second order phase transitions, near the critical temperature. In this context, the book emphasizes the role of gaussian distributions and their relations with the mean field approximation and Landau′s theory of critical phenomena. The book shows that quasi-gaussian or mean-field approximations cannot describe correctly phase transitions in three space dimensions. The book assigns this difficulty to the coupling of very different physical length scales, even though the systems we will consider have only local, that is, short range, interactions. To analyze the unusual situation, a new concept is required: the renormalization group, whose fixed points allow understanding the universality of physical properties at large distance, beyond mean-field theory. In the continuum limit, critical phenomena can be described by quantum field theories. In this framework, the renormalization group is directly related to the renormalization process; that is, the necessity to cancel the infinities that arise in straightforward formulations of the theory. The book discusses the renormalization group in the context of various relevant field theories. This leads to proofs of universality and to efficient tools for calculating universal quantities in a perturbative framework. Finally, the book constructs a general functional renormalization group, which can be used when perturbative methods are inadequate.
Abstract In Chapter 14, the singular behavior of ferromagnetic systems with O(N) symmetry and short-range interactions, near a second order phase transition has been determined in the mean-field approximation, which is also a quasi-Gaussian approximation. The mean-field approximation predicts a set of universal properties, properties independent of the detailed structure of the microscopic Hamiltonian, the dimension of space, and, to a large extent, of the symmetry of systems. However, the leading corrections to the mean-field approximation, in dimensions smaller than or equal to four, diverge at the critical temperature, and the universal predictions of the mean-field approximation cannot be correct. Such a problem originates from the non-decoupling of scales and leads to the question of possible universality. In Chapter 9, the question has been answered in four dimensions using renormalization theory, and related renormalization group (RG) equations. Moreover, below four dimensions, in an expansion around the mean-field, the most singular terms near criticality can be also formally recovered from a continuum, low-mass φ4 field theory. More generally, following Wilson, to understand universality beyond the mean-field approximation, it is necessary to build a general renormalization group in the form of flow equations for effective Hamiltonians and to find fixed points of the flow equations. Near four dimensions, the flow equations can be approximated by the renormalization group of quantum field theory (QFT), and the fixed points and critical behaviours derived within the framework of the Wilson-Fisher ϵ expansion.
This chapter presents a simple approximation scheme — the mean field approximation — which allows a study of the neighbourhood of the transition temperature. It distinguishes between first and second order phase transitions. In the latter case, the correlation length diverges at the critical (transition) temperature. This has important physical consequences: in the mean field approximation, the singular behaviour of thermodynamic quantities at the critical temperature, and more generally in the neighbourhood of the critical temperature and in small magnetic field, is universal, that is, does not depend on the details of the interactions, on the dimension of space and, in the high temperature phase at least, on the symmetry of the models.
Condensed media show a large variety of critical phenomena, ranging from critical opalescence at the end point of the liquid–gas coexistence curve, the Curie transition of ferromagnetic materials, to the superfluid transition of helium, the behaviour of solutions of polymers, the conductivity of random media, … To this list should be added systems with local symmetries, such as those suggested by particle physics in order to understand quark confinement. Surprisingly all these phenomena can be classified into a few universality classes, characterized by specific large distance behaviour with the same critical exponents. In this chapter, we sketch the methods and ideas of the renormalization procedure. We illustrate the concepts with simple approximations in the language of classical spin models in the first section, treating in more detail the XY -model as an example in the second section. Scaling laws. Real space renormalization Homogeneity and scale invariance The discussion given in previous chapters suggests that, close to a continuous transition, critical systems exhibit universal properties. Correlations at large distance are not sensitive to the details of microscopic interactions. Their behaviour is described by a specific dimensional analysis governed by some essential characteristics of the system, such as the dimension of space, the nature of the order parameter and the underlying symmetries. The mean field approximation gave a first idea of a simple critical behaviour. Fluctuations have only a quantitative effect in dimension greater than the upper critical one.
Correlation functions in the O(n) models below the critical temperature are considered. Based on Monte Carlo (MC) data, we confirm the fact stated earlier by Engels and Vogt, that the transverse two-plane correlation function of the O(4) model for lattice sizes about L=120 and small external fields h is very well described by a Gaussian approximation. However, we show that fits of not lower quality are provided by certain non-Gaussian approximation. We have also tested larger lattice sizes, up to L=512. The Fourier-transformed transverse and longitudinal two-point correlation functions have Goldstone mode singularities in the thermodynamic limit at k→0 and h=+0, i.e., G⊥(k)≃ak−λ⊥ and G∣∣(k)≃bk−λ∣∣, respectively. Here a and b are the amplitudes, k=|k| is the magnitude of the wave vector k. The exponents λ⊥, λ∣∣ and the ratio bM2/a2, where M is the spontaneous magnetization, are universal according to the GFD (grouping of Feynman diagrams) approach. Here we find that the universality follows also from the standard (Gaussian) theory, yielding bM2/a2=(n−1)/16. Our MC estimates of this ratio are 0.06±0.01 for n=2, 0.17±0.01 for n=4 and 0.498±0.010 for n=10. According to these and our earlier MC results, the asymptotic behavior and Goldstone mode singularities are not exactly described by the standard theory. This is expected from the GFD theory. We have found appropriate analytic approximations for G⊥(k) and G∣∣(k), well fitting the simulation data for small k. We have used them to test the Patashinski-Pokrovski relation and have found that it holds approximately.