Renormalization group treatment of the quantum nonlinear σ-model

The quantum nonlinear -model in (d+1)-dimensional space-time is investigated by a renormalization group approach. The beta-functions for the couplingg and the temperaturet are given. The renormalisation group equations of theN-point functions are derived for finite coupling and finite temperature. It is known that the model shows a phase transition at zero temperature at some critical couplingg _c . The behaviour near this critical point is investigated. The crossover exponent , describing the crossover between different regimes near the critical point is calculated, verifying a conjecture by Chakravarty, Halperin and Nelson, who have argued that ind dimensions should have the same value as the critical exponent of the correlation length in a (d+1)-dimensional classical system. A subtraction scheme appropriate to calculate the renormalisation factors and from these the beta-functions at finite temperature and finite coupling constant will be introduced. Using this method the beta-functions will be calculated to order two loops. The exponents obtained this way are in good agreement with the values found on other ways.     

Multifractal magnetization on hierarchical lattices

A new approach is applied to show that the local magnetization of the ferromagnetic Ising model on hierarchical lattices has a multifractal structure at the critical point. Thef() function characterizing its multifractality is presented and discussed for the diamond hierarchical lattice. Distinct exact critical exponents for the average magnetization and for the local magnetization of the deepest sites are found. The average magnetization (as function of the temperature) is also calculated. The critical exponent of the susceptibility is estimated using finite-size scale arguments.     

Renormalization group equations in local approximation

For a class of models with Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson functions of a local form it is proved that the spectrum of a renormalization group operator which is linearized near a fixed point is discrete, real, and limited from above. In the framework of a local model, critical exponents for the limitn= are calculated.     

Static and dynamic properties of XY systems with extended defects in cubic anisotropic crystallines

Static and dynamic critical behavior ofXY systems in cubic anisotropic crystallines, with extended defects (or quenched nonmagnetic impurities) strongly correlated along _d -dimensional space and randomly distributed ind – _d dimensions, were studied. These extended defects make the systems coordinate anisotropic, resulting in unique critical behavior due to competition between the cubic anisotropy and the coordinate anisotropy. The systems were analyzed by an ^1/2 (4 – d) type of expansion with double expansion parameters based on a renormalization-group (RG) approach. Critical exponents were calculated near the second-order phase transition point and the behavior of the first-order transition was evaluated near the tricritical point.     

Isotropic majority-vote model on a square lattice

The stationary critical properties of the isotropic majority vote model on a square lattice are calculated by Monte Carlo simulations and finite size analysis. The critical exponents, , and are found to be the same as those of the Ising model and the critical noise parameter is found to beq _c =0.075±0.001.     

Disordered loop model and coupled conformal field theories

A family of models for fluctuating loops in a two-dimensional random background is analyzed. The models are formulated as O(n) spin models with quenched inhomogeneous interactions. Using the replica method, the models are mapped to the M→0 limits of M-layered O(n) models coupled each other via _1,3 primary fields. The renormalization group flow is calculated in the vicinity of the decoupled critical point, by an epsilon expansion around the Ising point (n=1), varying n as a continuous parameter. The one-loop beta function suggests the existence of a strongly coupled phase (0<n<n_*) near the self-avoiding walk point (n=0) and a line of infrared fixed points (n_*<n<1) near the Ising point. For the fixed points, the effective central charges are calculated. The scaling dimensions of the energy operator and the spin operator are obtained up to two-loop order. The relation to the random-bond q-state Potts model is briefly discussed.     

The dynamical correlation function for isotropic ferromagnets forT≧T c

The dynamic correlation function for an isotropic ferromagnet forTT _c is calculated in first order in =6–d. Applying an exponentiation procedure then leads to results which are relevant for the analysis of neutron scattering experiments in the vicinity of the critical point.Supported by the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung     

Migdal-Kadanoff renormalization group for theO(n) model

We perform a Migdal-Kadanoff renormalization group calculation on anO(n) symmetric model on ad-dimensional hypercubic lattice,d=2, 3. We find that in two dimensions the critical fixed point disappears asn=n _KT1.96, which is in good agreement with the exact valuen _KT=2. In three dimensions the fixed point persists much longer, albeit not all the way up to infinity. Surface critical phenomena in a semiinfiniteO(n) model are also considered.     

Effective-field theory of spin glasses and the coherent-anomaly method. I

A new cluster-effective-field theory of spin glasses is formulated. Basic formulas for the spin-glass transition point and the spin-glass susceptibility in the high-temperature phase are obtained. The present theory combined with the coherent-anomaly method is shown to be useful to estimate the true critical point and the nonclassical critical exponent of a spin-glass transition. Concerning the two-dimensional ±J model, we have _s =5.2(1) forT _SG=0, which agrees well with the data by some other authors. As for the threedimensional±J model, the present tentative analysis givesT _SG=1.2(1)(J/k _B) and _s =4(1), but more extensive calculations are needed.     

On the spontaneous magnetization in the Ising model

The equality between the spontaneous magnetization and the long range order is established for the Ising model with nearest neighbour interactions for low and high temperatures. The proof is presented for the two-dimensional lattice but works also in higher dimensions. The result verifies that the valuem*=(1–(Sh)^–4)^1/8 of the spontaneous magnetization below the critical point calculated by Onsager and Yang is the true value, which has been a long standing open question.     

Critical behaviour of a one-dimensional crystal at the displacive limit

The partition function of a one-dimensional, one-component model is calculated exactly by means of a transfer-operator method, and the critical behaviour at the displacive limit is evaluated analytically. We prove a generalized scaling hypothesis and discuss the scaling behaviour in the critical region. We find critical exponents for the specific heat,=2/3 for the susceptibility, and a crossover exponent = 2/3. The results satisfy the scaling relations which do not involve the dimensionality but violate those which contain the dimensionality. Scaling functions for the susceptibility and the order parameter are calculated.Supported by Schweizerischer Nationalfonds.     

Correlations in inhomogeneous Ising models

We study correlations in inhomogeneous Ising models on a square lattice. The nearest neighbour couplings are allowed to be of arbitrary strength and sign such that the coupling distribution is translationally invariant either in horizontal or in diagonal direction, i.e. the models have a layered structure. By using transfer matrix techniques the spin-spin correlations are calculated parallel to the layering and are expressed as Toeplitz determinants. After working out the general methods we discuss two special examples in detail: the fully frustrated square lattice (FFS) and the chessboard model, both having no phase transition. At zero temperature correlations in the chessboard model decay exponentially, while in the FFS model one has algebraic decay with a critical index =1/2, i.e.T=0 is a critical point. At finite temperature we find exponential decay in both models with a correlation length determined by the excitation gap in the fermion spectrum. Due to frustration correlations may develop on oscillatory structure and spins separated by an odd diagonal distance are totally uncorrelated at all temperatures.Work performed within the research program of the Sonderforschungsbereich 125 Aachen-Jülich-Köla     

Lifshitz points in ising systems

Phase diagrams of Ising systems with competing interactions are calculated using (a) the method of Müller-Hartmann and Zittartz to determine the transition temperature via the vanishing of an interface free energy (b) a Migdal-Kadanoff bond-moving scheme and (c) Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that in two-dimensional Ising systems a uniaxial Lifshitz point can exist at non-zero temperatures, whereas the lower critical dimensiond _l for a Lifshitz point in a system with identical competing interactions along each of its cartesian axis isd _l 2.     

Absence of hyperscaling violations for phase transitions with positive specific heat exponent

Finite size scaling theory and hyperscaling are analyzed in the ensemble limit which differs from the finite size scaling limit. Different scaling limits are discussed. Hyperscaling relations are related to the identification of thermodynamics as the infinite volume limit of statistical mechanics. This identification combined with finite ensemble scaling leads to the conclusion that hyperscaling relations cannot be violated for phase transitions with strictly positive specific heat exponent. The ensemble limit allows to derive analytical expressions for the universal part of the finite size scaling functions at the critical point. The analytical expressions are given in terms of generalH-functions, scaling dimensions and a new universal shape parameter. The universal shape parameter is found to characterize the type of boundary conditions, symmetry and other universal influences on critical behaviour. The critical finite size scaling functions for the order parameter distribution are evaluated numerically for the cases =3, =5 and =15 where is the equation of state exponent. Using a tentative assignment of periodic boundary conditions to the universal shape parameter yields good agreement between the analytical prediction and Monte-Carlo simulations for the two dimensional Ising model. Analytical expressions for critical amplitude ratios are derived in terms of critical exponents and the universal shape parameters. The paper offers an explanation for the numerical discrepancies and the pathological behaviour of the renormalized coupling constant in mean field theory. Low order moment ratios of difference variables are proposed and calculated which are independent of boundary conditions, and allow to extract estimates for a critical exponent.     

Screened potential and quarkonia properties at high temperatures

We perform a quark model calculation of the quarkonia b and c spectra using smooth and sudden string breaking potentials. The screening parameter is scale dependent and can be related to an effective running gluon mass that has a finite infrared fixed point. A temperature dependence for the screening mass is motivated by lattice QCD simulations at finite temperature. Qualitatively different results are obtained for quarkonia properties close to a critical value of the deconfining temperature when a smooth or a sudden string breaking potential is used. In particular, with a sudden string breaking potential quarkonia radii remain almost independent of the temperature up to the critical point, only well above the critical point the radii increase significantly. Such a behavior will impact the phenomenology of quarkonia interactions in medium, in particular for scattering dissociation processes.     

Quantum Monodromy in the Spectrum of Schrödinger Equation with a Decatic Potential

In this study the spectral problem of the two-dimensional Schrödinger equation with the cylindrically symmetrical decatic potential is carried out. The concept of quantum monodromy is introduced to give insight into the energy levels of system with this potential. It is shown that quantum monodromy occurs at = 0 in the distribution of eigenstates around a critical point on the spectrum at E = 0 with zero angular momentum, such that there can be no smoothly valid assignment of quantum number. Cases with the three-well and four-well potentials are presented to give rise to the double degeneracies with respect to energy except for the angular momentum m = 0.     

Nonlinear excitations in the critical region

The free energy transformation due to fluctuations is investigated in an exactly solvable model. This model accounts for the fluctuation interaction in a reduced manner and leads to a realistic estimation for the free energy. In particular it gives a nice critical exponent=5. It is shown that in spite of the monotonic character of the effective free energy in the critical region the properties of the system should be described on the basis of the ⁶ model. Localized nonlinear excitations are found to be possible with a profile rather like that known as a bump near the point of the first-order phase transition.     

Non-Gaussian fixed points of the block spin transformation. Hierarchical model approximation

With the use of analyticity techniques recently developed by the authors, the - and 1/N-expansion type arguments are turned into a rigorous control of the non-Gaussian fixed point of the hierarchical model renormalization group. The present approach should extend beyond the hierarchical approximation and result in mathematical theory of the critical point of statistical mechanics or quantum field theory in three dimensions for small or largeN.On leave from Department of Mathematical Methods of Physics, Warsaw University     

Collapse of percolation clusters — A transfer matrix study

Exact calculations using transfer matrices on finite strips are performed to study the two-dimensional problem of site percolation clusters with an attractive nearest neighbor interaction. Thermodynamic quantities such as free energy per site and specific heat are calculated. Finite-size scaling with two strips of different widths yields very accurate approximations of the critical line and the correlation length exponent. The result shows clearly a site percolation fixed point at very high temperatures, a random animal fixed point at intermediate temperatures, a point for the collapse of lattice animals at lower temperatures, and a compact-cluster fixed point at the lowest temperatures.On leave from Institute of Theoretical Physcis, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.     

Theory of the diffusive glide of dislocations with narrow kinks

A theory of glide velocity of a dislocation with narrow kinks which encounter spatially periodic, relatively high energy barriers is developed. The thermally activated generation of double kinks is considered as the mechanism of the dislocation movement. It is assumed that the saddle point is determined by the elastic interaction between the two kinks and that diffusion of the kinks is rate controlling. According to this theory velocities of screw dislocations in -iron are calculated in dependence on temperature and the applied stress with 2E _k =0·68 eV andE=0·07 eV (E _k is the energy of an isolated kink,E is the second-order Peierls energy). Relations to three other theories, which may be considsred for calculation of velocities of screw dislocations in b.c.c. metals are discussed and demonstrated by numerical calculations for iron. It appears that there are no serious objections suggested by experiments which might be raised against the screw dislocation velocities in iron calculated according to the presented theory.