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Les effets de taille finie au-dessus de la dimension critique supérieure

Emilio Flores-Sola

Published Sep 20, 2016• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this project finite-size size scaling above the upper critical dimension $d_c$ is investigated. Finite-size scaling there has long been poorly understood, especially its dependency on boundary conditions. The violation of the hyperscaling relation above $d_c$ has also been one of the most visible issues. The breakdown in standard scaling is due to the dangerous irrelevant variables presented in the self-interacting term in the $\phi^4$ theory, which were considered dangerous to the free energy density and associated thermodynamic functions, but not to the correlation sector. Recently, a modified finite-size scaling scheme has been proposed, which considers that the correlation length actually plays a pivotal role and is affected by dangerous variables too. This new scheme, named QFSS, considers that the correlation length, instead of having standard scaling behaviour $\xi \sim L$, scales as $\xi \sim L^{Ϙ}$. This pseudocritical exponent is connected to the critical dimension and dangerous variables. Below $d_c$ this exponent takes the value $Ϙ=1$, but above the upper critical dimension it is $Ϙ=d/d_c$. QFSS succeeded in reconciling the mean-field exponents and FSS derived from the renormalisation-group for the models with short-range interactions above $d_c$ with periodic boundary conditions. If $Ϙ$ is an universal exponent, the validity of that theory should also hold for the free boundary conditions. Initial tests for such systems faced new problems. Whereas QFSS is valid at pseudocritical points where quantities such as the magnetic susceptibility experience a peak for finite systems, at critical points the standard FSS seemed to prevail, i.e., mean-field exponents with $\xi \sim L$. Here, we show that this last picture at critical point is not correct and instead the exponents that applied there actually arise from the Gaussian fixed-point FSS where the dangerous variables are suppressed. To achieve this aim, we study Ising models with long-range interaction, which can be tuned above $d_c$, with periodic and free boundary conditions. We also include a study of the Fourier modes which can be used as an example of scaling quantities without dangerous variables.

DOI
10.70675/118ba7c1zb3b6z491dzb48cz9813ad40cdc8

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In this project finite-size size scaling above the upper critical dimension dcd_cdc​ is investigated. Finite-size scaling there has long been poorly understood, especially its dependency on boundary conditions. The violation of the hyperscaling relation above dcd_cdc​ has also been one of the most visible issues. The breakdown in standard scaling is due to the dangerous irrelevant variables presented in the self-interacting term in the ϕ4\phi^4ϕ4 theory, which were considered dangerous to the free energy density and associated thermodynamic functions, but not to the correlation sector. Recently, a modified finite-size scaling scheme has been proposed, which considers that the correlation length actually plays a pivotal role and is affected by dangerous variables too. This new scheme, named QFSS, considers that the correlation length, instead of having standard scaling behaviour ξ∼L\xi \sim Lξ∼L, scales as ξ∼LϘ\xi \sim L^{Ϙ}ξ∼LϘ. This pseudocritical exponent is connected to the critical dimension and dangerous variables. Below dcd_cdc​ this exponent takes the value Ϙ=1Ϙ=1Ϙ=1, but above the upper critical dimension it is Ϙ=d/dcϘ=d/d_cϘ=d/dc​. QFSS succeeded in reconciling the mean-field exponents and FSS derived from the renormalisation-group for the models with short-range interactions above dcd_cdc​ with periodic boundary conditions. If ϘϘϘ is an universal exponent, the validity of that theory should also hold for the free boundary conditions. Initial tests for such systems faced new problems. Whereas QFSS is valid at pseudocritical points where quantities such as the magnetic susceptibility experience a peak for finite systems, at critical points the standard FSS seemed to prevail, i.e., mean-field exponents with ξ∼L\xi \sim Lξ∼L. Here, we show that this last picture at critical point is not correct and instead the exponents that applied there actually arise from the Gaussian fixed-point FSS where the dangerous variables are suppressed. To achieve this aim, we study Ising models with long-range interaction, which can be tuned above dcd_cdc​, with periodic and free boundary conditions. We also include a study of the Fourier modes which can be used as an example of scaling quantities without dangerous variables.
We present a unified view of finite-size scaling (FSS) in dimension d above the upper critical dimension, for both free and periodic boundary conditions. We find that the modified FSS proposed some time ago to allow for violation of hyperscaling due to a dangerous irrelevant variable applies only to k=0 fluctuations, and "standard" FSS applies to k≠0 fluctuations. Hence the exponent η describing power-law decay of correlations at criticality is unambiguously η=0. With free boundary conditions, the finite-size "shift" is greater than the rounding. Nonetheless, using T-T(L), where T(L) is the finite-size pseudocritical temperature, rather than T-T(c), as the scaling variable, the data do collapse onto a scaling form that includes the behavior both at T(L), where the susceptibility χ diverges like L(d/2), and at the bulk T(c), where it diverges like L(2). These claims are supported by large-scale simulations on the five-dimensional Ising model.
Renormalization-group theory has stood, for over 40 years, as one of the pillars of modern physics. As such, there should be no remaining doubt regarding its validity. However, finite-size scaling, which derives from it, has long been poorly understood above the upper critical dimension d_{c} in models with free boundary conditions. In addition to its fundamental significance for scaling theories, the issue is important at a practical level because finite-size, statistical-physics systems with free boundaries and above d_{c} are experimentally relevant for long-range interactions. Here, we address the roles played by Fourier modes for such systems and show that the current phenomenological picture is not supported for all thermodynamic observables with either free or periodic boundaries. In particular, the expectation that dangerous irrelevant variables cause Gaussian-fixed-point scaling indices to be replaced by Landau mean-field exponents for all Fourier modes is incorrect. Instead, the Gaussian-fixed-point exponents have a direct physical manifestation for some modes above the upper critical dimension.
Scaling, hyperscaling and finite-size scaling were long considered problematic in theories of critical phenomena in high dimensions. The scaling relations themselves form a model-independent structure that any model-specific theory must adhere to, and they are accounted for by the simple principle of homogeneity. Finite-size scaling is similarly founded on the fundamental idea that only two length scales enter the game — namely system length and correlation length. While all scaling relations are quite satisfactory for multitudes of physical systems in low dimensions, one fails in high dimensions. The aberrant scaling relation is called hyperscaling and involves dimensionality itself. Finite-size scaling also appears to fail in high dimensions. Developed in the 1930s, Landau mean-field theory is valid in such high-dimensional systems. However, it too does not accord with hyperscaling and finite-size scaling there. The advent of renormalization-group theory in the 1970s brought deeper fundamental insights into critical phenomena, allowing systems to be viewed at different scales. Above a critical dimensionality, higher-order Renormalization Group (RG) eigenvalues become irrelevant and scaling is governed by the Gaussian fixed point. Although obeying all scaling relations including hyperscaling, and although it appears to successfully explain scaling in the correlation sector, the Gaussian fixed point fails to capture the free energy and derivatives, even in infinite volume. In the 1980s, to fix this for the magnetisation, specific heat and susceptibility, Fisher introduced the notion of dangerous irrelevant variables. Since the correlation sector did not appear to be broken, no attempt was made to repair it and Fisher’s modified RG formalism worked quite well in the thermodynamic limit of infinite volume. However, finite-size scaling fails. Also in the 1980’s, Binder, Nauenberg, Privman and Young extended Fisher’s concept to the free energy itself and to finite-size systems. While putting Fisher’s ideas on a more fundamental footing, the failure of finite-size scaling there still presented a problem. This appeared to be resolved by the introduction of “thermodynamic length” to replace correlation length as the length scale that controls Finite-Size Scaling (FSS). Thus hyperscaling and FSS were both sacrificed in favour of the RG patched together by ad hoc solutions. In the 1990’s, Luijten and Blöte went a long way to resolving the dilemma by adding corrections to scaling to the above considerations. It was clear that both of these played a role. However, as with previous authors, and adhering to the principle of not fixing that appears not to be broken, they did not address correlation length directly. Here we report on developments over the past decade which went a long way to addressing these long-standing problems The key to unlocking these, and extending their validity to the high-dimensional regime, was to relax assumptions that the correlation length has to be bounded by the physical length of bounded systems. This allowed and necessitated the extension of Fisher’s concept of dangerous irrelevant variables to the correlation sector.
Les effets de taille finie au-dessus de la dimension critique supérieure Dans cette thèse on étudie les effets de taille finie au-dessus de la dimension critique supérieure d_c. Les effets de taille finie y ont longtemps été incomplètement compris, en particulier vis-à-vis de leur dépendance en fonction des conditions aux limites. La violation de la relation d’échelle dite d’hyperscaling a été l’un des aspects les plus évidents des difficultés rencontrées. Le désaccord avec le scaling usuel est dû au caractère de variable non pertinente dangereuse du terme de self-interaction dans la théorie en ϕ^4. Celle-ci était considérée comme dangereuse pour la densité d’énergie libre et les fonctions thermodynamiques associées, mais pas dans le secteur des corrélations. Récemment, un schéma nouveau de scaling a été proposé dans lequel la longueur de corrélation joue un rôle central et est également affectée par la variable non pertinente dangereuse. Ce nouveau schéma, appelé QFSS, est basé sur le fait que la longueur de corrélation exhibe au lieu du scaling usuel ξ~L un comportement en puissance de la taille finie ξ~L^ϙ. Ce pseudo-exposant critique ϙ est lié à la dimension critique supérieure et à la variable dangereuse. Au-dessous de d_c, cet exposant prend la valeur ϙ=1, mais au-dessus, il vaut ϙ=d/d_c. Le schéma QFSS est parvenu à réconcilier les exposants de champs moyen et le Finite-Size-Scaling tel que dérivé du Groupe de Renormalisation pour les modèles avec interactions à courte portée au-dessus de d_c en conditions aux limites périodiques. Si ϙ est un exposant universel, la validité de la théorie doit toutefois s’étendre également aux conditions de bords libres. Des tests initiaux dans de telles conditions ont mis en évidence de nouvelles difficultés: alors que le QFSS est valable au point pseudo-critique auquel les grandeurs thermodynamiques telles que la susceptibilité manifestent un pic à taille finie, au point critique on a pensé que c’était le FSS standard qui prévalait avec les exposants de champ moyen et ξ~L. On montre dans ce travail qu’il en va différemment de la situation au point critique et qu’à la place ce sont les exposants gaussiens qui s’appliquent en l’absence de variable non pertinente dangereuse. Pour mettre en évidence ce résultat, nous avons mené des simulations de modèles avec interactions à longue portée, qui peuvent être à volonté étudiés au-dessus de leur dimension critique supérieure. Nous avons aussi développé une étude des modes de Fourier qui permet de fournir des exemples de quantités non affectées par la présence de la variable non pertinente dangereuse
In the 1960's, four famous scaling relations were developed which relate the six standard critical exponents describing continuous phase transitions in the thermodynamic limit of statistical physics models. They are well understood at a fundamental level through the renormalization group. They have been verified in multitudes of theoretical, computational and experimental studies and are firmly established and profoundly important for our understanding of critical phenomena. One of the scaling relations, hyperscaling, fails above the upper critical dimension. There, critical phenomena are governed by Gaussian fixed points in the renormalization-group formalism. Dangerous irrelevant variables are required to deliver the mean-field and Landau values of the critical exponents, which are deemed valid by the Ginzburg criterion. Also above the upper critical dimension, the standard picture is that, unlike for low-dimensional systems, finite-size scaling is non-universal. Here we report on new developments which indicate that the current paradigm is flawed and incomplete. In particular, the introduction of a new exponent characterising the finite-size correlation length allows one to extend hyperscaling beyond the upper critical dimension. Moreover, finite-size scaling is shown to be universal provided the correct scaling window is chosen. These recent developments also lead to the introduction of a new scaling relation analogous to one introduced by Fisher 50 years ago.