Gradient properties of the renormalisation group equations in multicomponent systems

The existence of a metric, which enables the renormalisation group β functions of a multicomponent field theory to be written as a gradient, has very important implications for the asymptotic behavior of the renormalisation group equations. It is shown that a very simple metric exists in a field theory with n-component Bose fields and arbitrary φ⁴ interaction, when the β functions are calculated perturbatively up to and including the 2-loop diagrams. This same metric is shown to work for all irreducible diagrams, but it must and can be modified to accommodate reducible 3-loop contributions. The prospects and outlook of this aspect of the renormalisation group are discussed.