Renormalization group Definition and 41 Threads

In a podcast episode, Sean Carroll discusses Wilson's renormalization group and effective field theories, arguing how Wilson showed that upper-level theories are not discoverable from effective field theories at low energy. Excerpt: In what sense is this true? Does that mean that no matter how...

I'm looking at a proof of beta function universality in ##\phi^4## theory, and at one point they do the following step: after imposing that the renormalized coupling ##\lambda## is independent of the cutoff ##\Lambda##, we have $$0= \Lambda \frac {\text{d} \lambda}{\text{d} \Lambda} = \Lambda...

I'm learning about the RG equation and Callan-Symanzik equation. In ref.1 they claim to solve the RG equation via the method of characteristics for PDE. Here's a picture of the relevant part: First, the part I don't understand - the one underlined in red. What does "compatible" mean here...

Let ##\Gamma[\varphi] = \Gamma_0[\sqrt{Z}\varphi ] = \Gamma_0[\varphi_0]## be the generating functional for proper vertex functions for a massless ##\phi##-##4## theory. The ##0## subscripts refer to bare quantities, while the quantities without are renormalized. Then $$\tilde{\Gamma}^{(n)}(p_i...

A pair of new papers (here and here) make precision determinations of the quark masses and the strong force coupling constant using the renormalization group summed perturbation theory (RGSPT). For comparison purposes, I have followed each value with the Particle Data Group (PDG) value, and then...

I have taken a Quantum Field Theory course recently in which we first derived the Callan-Symanzik equation and then discussed Wilson's Renormalization. However, I don't think I have a clear understanding of the procedures and how they relate to each other. For the sake of this question, let's...

When one applies block spin scheme on Ising model, what's the value for block spin? If we set the average value for spin in a block, it should not be ±1 anymore. But if so, is the transfer matrix is still two dimensional?

Or in other words: The renormalization group is a systematic theoretical framework and a set of elegant (and often effective) mathematical techniques to build effective field theories, valid at large scales, by smoothing out irrelevant fluctuations at smaller scales. But does the...

I'm reading about extensions of standard model and this pops up frequently but it's not very clear. I understand it's a region in parameters space so renormalization group naturally becomes relevant and that's about it for my understanding. I can't connect any of this to the beta function of the...

Years ago after reading Ch. 12 of Peskin and Schroeder (and the analogous discussion in Zee), I thought I fully understood the modern Wilsonian view of renormalization, and how it explains why non-renormalizable field theories still have meaning/predictive power at energies well below the...

There are several reasons given in the literature, why UV infinities arise in QFT in the first place. My problem is putting them together, i.e. understand how they are related to each other. So... UV divergences arise and thus we need to renormalize, because: We have infinite number of...

I am aware of only two fields where the renormalization (sub)group ideas can be systematically and unambiguously applied: particle physics and equilibrium critical behaviour. 1.- Are there any others? 2.- What are these ideas used for in fluid mechanics? 3.- When cosmologists speak about...

I'm currently studying the Landau-Wilson model for critical phenomena (Statistical Mechanics, Kerson Huang) where the renormalization group is a central object. In the end, the calculations lead to a set of coupled differential equations that describe the (metaphorical) evolution of the...

Given a Yukawa coupling as a function of scale and a vev, how can I compute the corresponding pole mas? Understandably most paper explain how from a measured pole mass one can compute the running mass, for example, Eq. 19 here. However I want to compute the pole mass from the running mass. In...

Does it make sense to talk about the top mass at energies below mt, although in all processes the corresponding energy scale is above mt because of the rest mass energy of the top quark? Using an effective field theory approach, the top quark decouples at energies below the top quark mass and...

The top and Higgs mass determination arose the old discussion about electroweak vacuum metastablity. There is an interesting fact that with available data the universe places in the edge of stable and meta-stable zone tends to be inside the meta-stable region. This conclusion confirms up to...

On page 164-165 of srednicki's printed version (chapter 27) on other renormalization schemes, he arrives at the equation $$m_{ph}^{2} = m^2 \left [1 \left ( +\frac{5}{12}\alpha(ln \frac{\mu^2}{m^2}) +c' \right ) + O(\alpha^2)\right]$$ But after taking a log and dividing by 2 he arrives at...

Hi, I'm confused about the discussion on p28 of Nigel Goldenfeld's "Lectures on phase transitions and the renormalization group" (this question can only be answered by people who have access to the book.) The goal is to compute the potential energy of a uniformly charged sphere where the...

The problem statement. When an exercises say " the interaction in a QFT has dimensions Δ" , what does it mean?, it means the field or the Lagrangian has this mass dimension? In this exercise I'm trying to find the classical beta function (β-function) for the assciated couling.

Hi there, I have a question about the rest mass of an electron. As we all know, the charge of an electron is a function of the energy at which the system is probed. When defining the charge, we typically use as our reference scale the charge measured in Thompson scattering at the orders of...

Why density matrix renormalization group theory works only for 1D systems?

What type of group is the Renormalization Group? All I've seen is people giving a (differential) equation for beta-function when they teach for the RG... Also I haven't been able to find an algebra characterizing the RG... Any clues?

Perimeter conference http://pirsa.org/C14020 Here are links to the talks' videos and slides PDF Recent developments in asymptotic safety: tests and properties Tim Morris http://pirsa.org/14040085/ What you always wanted to know about CDT, but did not have time to...

This isn't a homework problem, but something from a set of notes that I'd like to better understand. My confusion starts on page 23 here: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1146665.files/III-9-RenormalizationGroup.pdf. I'm having trouble reproducing his calculation for the...

When I am reading about the Wilson approach to renormalization in Chapter12.1 of Peskin & Shroeder I am wondering why are you allowed only to contract the \hat{\phi} field (this is the field that carries the high-momentums degrees of freedom)as they show in equation 12.10, I thought that we...

From what I now understand of renormalization it is really a reparametrization of the theory in terms of measurable quantities instead of the 'inobservable bare quantities' that follow the Lagrangian; at least that is one interpretation of what is going on. The originally divergent physical...

Hello, I've been reading a book on QCD on I have a question: what is the purpose of the renormalization group? Is it to remove the large logs so that we can use pertubation theory (at least for large -q^2)? And what is the physical significance of the renormalization scale \mu^2?

I have just read my first course on Quantum Field Theory (QFT) and have followed the book by Srednicki. I have peeked a bit in the books by Peskin & Schroeder and Ryder also but mostly Srednicki as this was the main course book. Now, I have to do a project in a topic not covered in the course...

Are there two separate renormalization group equations? One for how the physical coupling constants change with time, and one for how the bare parameters/coupling constants change with cutoff? Is there a relationship between the two? It just seems that textbooks use the term renormalization...

Renormalization Group concept is rarely given in laymen book on QM and QFT and even Quantum Gravity book like Lisa Randall Warped Passages. They mostly described about infinity minus infinity and left it from there. So if you were to write about QFT for Dummies. How would you share it such...

The following statements are from the paper with the above title, recommended in another thread, are from here: http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-922719-5.pdf An interpretion of these statements would be appreciated: 1. [first paragraph, page 3] What is 'conservation of...

Hello everyone, I am currently studying the renorm. group in Stat. physics, more precisely how a rescaling (of space) leaves the partition function unchanged, at the price of having an infinite space of parameters due to the interaction proliferation at each rescaling. Let K be our...

I remember an argument which says that closed to critical points all systems are universal in the sense that their behavior is described by the critical exponents and that these critical exponents depend only on the dimension of the system and the dimension of the order parameter. I remember...

Please teach me this: Why the renormalization group flow and the fix-point depends only on the basic symmetry but not on the Lagrangian form.In general speaking,the physics laws depend only the basic symmetries?By the way,the Klein-Gordon,linear sigma,nonlinear sigma Lagrangian flow to one...

I found between my family's books (cousins mostly) 4 books for fluid mechanics, and since next semester i ll be taking it it d be cool if i could just chose between them. Oh btw its for mechanical engineering i currently have: Fluid Mechanics. Robert A. Granger...

Please teach me this: It seem to me that the objective of renormalization were the exclusion the infinities.But in renormalization group theory,they consider the dependence of physics parameters(e.g the interaction constant lamda,the mass parameter) on momentum p.Then I do not understand what...

i would need some good books (with examples) in the following subjects - Feynman diagramas (how to calculate them) - Renormalization group my background: i have got a degree on physics, so i know what ODE , PDE , or even the Feynman integral and propagator, but i did not study the part...

Does Renormalization group tell you if a theory is Renormalizable or not ?? the idea is this, using the Renormalization group equation for our theory (QED, Gravity, Gauge theories..) can tell this RG equation if our theory is renormalizable or not for big or small energies ??

Hello, in our lecture, we computed \beta^{\overline{MS}} , \gamma_m^{\overline{MS}} for - \frac{\lambda}{4!} \phi^4 Theory. These are: \beta^{\overline{MS}} (\lambda_{\overline{MS}}) = b_1 \lambda_{\overline{MS}}^2 + O(\lambda_{\overline{MS}}^3) \gamma_m^{\overline{MS}}...

What is the idea behind renormalization group ?? i believe you begin with an action S[\phi] =\int d^{4}x L(\phi , \partial _{\mu} \phi ) then you expand the fields into its Fourier components upto a propagator.. \phi (x) =C \int_{ \Lambda}d^{4}x e^{i \vec p \vec x} + c.c but...

Hi.. in what sense do you intrdouce the cut-off inside the action \int_{|p| \le \Lambda} \mathcal L (\phi, \partial _{\mu} \phi ) then all the quantities mass m(\Lambda) charge q(\Lambda) and Green function (every order 'n') G(x,x',\Lambda) will depend on the value of cut-off...