Renormalization flow of QED

We investigate textbook QED in the framework of the exact renormalization group. In the strong-coupling region, we study the influence of fluctuation-induced photonic and fermionic self-interactions on the nonperturbative running of the gauge coupling. Our findings confirm the triviality hypothesis of complete charge screening if the ultraviolet cutoff is sent to infinity. Though the Landau pole does not belong to the physical coupling domain owing to spontaneous chiral-symmetry-breaking (chiSB), the theory predicts a scale of maximal UV extension of the same order as the Landau pole scale. In addition, we verify that the chiSB phase of the theory which is characterized by a light fermion and a Goldstone boson also has a trivial Yukawa coupling.     

The Gross-Neveu model at finite temperature at next-to-leading order in the 1/N expansion

We present new results on the Gross-Neveu model at finite temperature and at next-to-leading order in the 1/N expansion. In particular, a new expression is obtained for the effective potential which is explicitly invariant under renormalization group transformations. The model is used as a playground to investigate various features of field theory at finite temperature. For example we verify that, as expected from general arguments, the cancellation of ultraviolet divergences takes place at finite temperature without the need for introducing counterterms beyond those of zero temperature. As well known, the discrete chiral symmetry of the (1+1)-dimensional model is spontaneously broken at zero temperature and restored, in leading order, at some temperature T_c; we find that the 1/N approximation breaks down for temperatures below T_c: as the temperature increases, the fluctuations become eventually too large to be treated as corrections, and a Landau pole invalidates the calculation of the effective potential in the vicinity of its minimum. Beyond T_c, the 1/N expansion becomes again regular: it predicts that in leading order the system behaves as a free gas of massless fermions and that, at the next-to-leading order, it remains weakly interacting. In the limit of large temperature, the pressure coincides with that given by perturbation theory with a coupling constant defined at a scale of the order of the temperature, as expected from asymptotic freedom.     

Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis Effective Potential for Quark Propagator in Real-Time Thermal Field Theory and Landau Gauge

We complete the derivation of the Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis effective potentiM for quark propagator at finite temperature and finite quark chemical potential in the real-time formalism of thermal field theory and in Landau gauge. In the approximation that the function A（p^2） in inverse quark propagator is replaced by unity, by means of the running gauge coupling and the quark mass function invariant under the renormalization group in zero temperature Quantum Chromadynamics （QCD）, we obtain a calculable expression for the thermal effective potential, which will be a useful means to research chiral phase transition in QCD in the real-time formalism.     

Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis Effective Potential for Quark Propagator in Real-Time Thermal Field Theory and Landau Gauge

We complete the derivation of the Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis effective potential for quark propagator at finite temperature and finite quark chemical potential in the real-time formalism of thermal field theory and in Landau gauge. In the approximation that the function A(p2) in inverse quark propagator is replaced by unity, by means of the running gauge coupling and the quark mass function invariant under the renormalization group in zero temperature Quantum Chromadynamics (QCD), we obtain a calculable expression for the thermal effective potential, which will be a useful means to research chiral phase transition in QCD in the real-time formalism.     

Tuning the effects of Landau level mixing on anisotropic transport in quantum Hall systems

Electron-electron interactions in half-filled high Landau levels in two-dimensional electron gases in a strong perpendicular magnetic field can lead to states with anisotropic longitudinal resistance. This longitudinal resistance is generally believed to arise from broken rotational invariance, which is indicated by charge density wave order in Hartree-Fock calculations. We use the Hartree-Fock approximation to study the influence of externally tuned Landau level mixing on the formation of interaction-induced states that break rotational invariance in two-dimensional electron and hole systems. We focus on the situation when there are two non-interacting states in the vicinity of the Fermi level and construct a Landau theory to study coupled charge density wave order that can occur as interactions are tuned and the filling or mixing are varied. We consider numerically a specific example where mixing is tuned externally through Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We calculate the phase diagram and find the possibility of ordering involving coupled striped or triangular charge density waves in the two levels. Our results may be relevant to recent transport experiments on quantum Hall nematics in which Landau level mixing plays an important role.     

Competing orders in FeAs layers

Using the unrestricted Hartree-Fock approximation and Landau theory we identify possible phases competing with superconductivity in FeAs layers. We find that close to half-filling the transition from the paramagnet to the magnetically ordered phase is first order, making anharmonicities relevant and leading to a rich phase diagram. Between the already known one-dimensionally modulated magnetic stripe phase and the paramagnet we find a new phase which has the same structure factor as the former but in which magnetic moments at nearest-neighbor sites are at right angles making electrons acquire a nontrivial phase when circulating a plaquette at strong coupling. Another competing phase has magnetic and charge order and may be stabilized by charged impurities.     

Gauge independence and chiral symmetry breaking in a strong magnetic field

The gauge independence of the dynamical fermion mass generated through chiral symmetry breaking in QED in a strong, constant external magnetic field is critically examined. We present a (first, to the best of our knowledge) consistent truncation of the Schwinger-Dyson equations in the lowest Landau level approximation. We demonstrate that the dynamical fermion mass, obtained as the solution of the truncated Schwinger-Dyson equations evaluated on the fermion mass shell, is manifestly gauge independent.     

The strong phase of QED

The strong phase of QED is studied in the ladder approximation. In the leading approximation we show that the perturbative vacuum of QED is unstable against forming the electron-positron bound state if the coupling is greater than a critical value. We argue that the chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken in the strong phase of QED, if we choose the correct boundary conditions to the gap equation and the nonperturbative β-function found by Miransky is taken into account. We also calculate the ratio between the infrared limit of the electron self-energy and the vacuum condensate, γ = Σ²(0)/k = 1.     

Avoidance of a Landau pole by flat contributions in QED

We consider massless Quantum Electrodynamics in the momentum scheme and carry forward an approach based on Dyson–Schwinger equations to approximate both the β$\beta$-function and the renormalized photon self-energy (Yeats, 2011). Starting from the Callan–Symanzik equation, we derive a renormalization group (RG) recursion identity which implies a non-linear ODE for the anomalous dimension and extract a sufficient but not necessary criterion for the existence of a Landau pole. This criterion implies a necessary condition for QED to have no such pole. Solving the differential equation exactly for a toy model case, we integrate the corresponding RG equation for the running coupling and find that even though the β$\beta$-function entails a Landau pole it exhibits a flat contribution capable of decreasing its growth, in other cases possibly to the extent that such a pole is avoided altogether. Finally, by applying the recursion identity, we compute the photon propagator and investigate the effect of flat contributions on both spacelike and timelike photons.     

Electron mass operator in a strong magnetic field and dynamical chiral symmetry breaking

The electron mass operator in a strong magnetic field is calculated. The contribution of higher Landau levels of virtual electrons, along with the ground Landau level, is shown to be essential in the leading log approximation. The effect of the electron dynamical mass generation by a magnetic field is investigated. In a model with N charged fermions, it is shown that some critical number N(cr) exists for any value of the electromagnetic coupling constant alpha, such that the fermion dynamical mass is generated with a doublet splitting for NN(cr), thus leaving the chiral symmetry unbroken.     

Magnetically driven ferroelectric order in Ni3V2O8

We show that long-range ferroelectric and incommensurate magnetic order appear simultaneously in a single phase transition in Ni3V2O8. The temperature and magnetic-field dependence of the spontaneous polarization show a strong coupling between magnetic and ferroelectric orders. We determine the magnetic symmetry using Landau theory for continuous phase transitions, which shows that the spin structure alone can break spatial inversion symmetry leading to ferroelectric order. This phenomenological theory explains our experimental observation that the spontaneous polarization is restricted to lie along the crystal b axis and predicts that the magnitude should be proportional to a magnetic order parameter.     

Quantum electrodynamic corrections for valence electrons in Eka-Hg

The quantum electrodynamic (QED) corrections to the coupling energy of valence electrons in heavy and superheavy nuclei are calculated in the effective local-potential approximation, as well as by the Hartree-Fock-Dirac self-consistent method. It is clearly shown that the contribution from the QED corrections is within the accuracy of modern calculations, which do not take into account QED effects. It is shown that, in certain cases, to exactly calculate the coupling energy of electrons in heavy and superheavy atoms, it is necessary to take into account the self-consistency, which shows that the inaccuracy of the use of the method of the effective local potential in calculations of QED effects can exceed 10%, which is also within the limits of calculations of the coupling energy without taking into account QED effects.     

Quantum dots with disorder and interactions: a solvable large-g limit

We analyze the problem of interacting electrons on a ballistic quantum dot with chaotic boundary conditions, where the effective interactions at low energies are characterized by Landau parameters. When the dimensionless conductance g of the dot is large, the disordered interacting problem can be solved in a saddle-point approximation which becomes exact as g --> infinity (as in a large-N theory), leading to a phase transition in each Landau interaction channel. In the weak-coupling phase constant charging and exchange interactions dominate the low-energy physics, while the strong-coupling phase displays a spontaneous distortion of the Fermi surface, smeared out by disorder.     

Functional integral equation for the complete effective action in quantum field theory

Based on a methodological analysis of the effective action approach, certain conceptual foundations of quantum field theory are reconsidered to establish a quest for an equation for the effective action. Relying on the functional integral formulation of Lagrangian quantum field theory, we propose a functional integral equation for the complete effective action which can be understood as a certain fixed-point condition. This is motivated by a critical attitude toward the distinction, artificial from an experimental point of view, between classical and effective action. While for free field theories nothing new is accomplished, for interacting theories the concept differs from the established paradigm. The analysis of this new concept concentrates on gauge field theories, treating QED as the prototype model. An approximative approach to the functional integral equation for the complete effective action of QED is exploited to obtain certain nonperturbative information about the quadratic kernels of the action. As a particular application the approximate calculation of the QED coupling constant α is explicitly studied. It is understood as one of the characteristics of a fixed point given as a solution of the functional integral equation proposed. Finally, within the present approach the vacuum energy problem is considered, as are possible implications for the concept of induced gravity.     

Classical statistical mechanics and Landau damping

We study the retarded response function in scalar φ⁴-theory at finite temperature. We find that in the high-temperature limit the imaginary part of the self-energy is given by the classical theory to leading order in the coupling. In particular the plasmon damping rate is a purely classical effect to leading order, as shown by Aarts and Smit. The dominant contribution to Landau damping is given by the propagation of classical fields in a heat bath of non-interacting fields.     

1/N expansion and the correlation energy of nuclear matter in the relativistic σω model

We propose the 1/N expansion method, where N can be identified with 2 due to the isospin SU(2), as a systematic expansion scheme for the relativistic meson-nucleon many-body theory. We derive a general formula for the computation of the effective action in the σω model based on the 1/N expansion, utilizing the functional integral method. In this scheme the leading contribution coincides with the familiar Hartree approximation. The elimination of the Landau ghost from the meson propagators in the subgraphs, which appears to be essential for our formulation, is also established.

As an application we compute the energy density of nuclear matter beyond the Hartree approximation including the next-to-leading order contributions in the 1/N expansion. In this order, one should include the ring energy contribution as a correlation energy addition to the exchange energy contribution. We find that we can describe the nuclear matter saturation properties without drastic changes of the overall physical picture which emerged in the Hartree approximation. The important role of the repulsive contribution due to the vacuum polarization effects in the ring energy is emphasized.     

Radiative corrections to the cross section for <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> + <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> → <Emphasis Type="Italic">v + n</Emphasis> and the crossed processes

The Born cross section and the radiative corrections to its lowest order are considered in the framework of QED with structureless nucleons including the emission of virtual and real photons. The result is generalized to take into account the radiative corrections in higher orders of the perturbation theory in the leading and next-to-leading logarithmic approximation. The crossing processes are considered in the leading approximation. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Landau levels of scalar QED in time-dependent magnetic fields

The Landau levels of scalar QED undergo continuous transitions under a homogeneous, time-dependent magnetic field. We analytically formulate the Klein–Gordon equation for a charged spinless scalar as a Cauchy initial value problem in the two-component first order formalism and then put forth a measure that classifies the quantum motions into the adiabatic change, the nonadiabatic change, and the sudden change. We find the exact quantum motion and calculate the pair-production rate when the magnetic field suddenly changes as a step function.     

Effective Hamiltonian for striped and paired states at the half-filled Landau level

We study a pairing mechanism for the quantum Hall system using a mean field theory with a basis on the von Neumann lattice, on which the magnetic translations commute. In the Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov approximation, we solve the gap equation for spin-polarized electrons at the half-filled Landau levels. We obtain an effective Hamiltonian which shows a continuous transition from the compressible striped state to the paired state. Furthermore, a crossover occurs in the pairing phase. The energy spectrum and energy gap of the quasiparticle in the paired state is calculated numerically at the half-filled second Landau level.     

Hard-thermal-loop QED thermodynamics

The weak-coupling expansion for thermodynamic quantities in thermal field theories is poorly convergent unless the coupling constant is tiny.We discuss the calculation of the free energy for a hot gas of electrons and photons to three-loop order using hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory (HTLpt).We show that the hard-thermal-loop perturbation reorganization improves the convergence of the successive approximations to the QED free energy at large coupling,e ～ 2.The reorganization is gauge invariant by construction,and due to the cancellations among various contributions,we obtain a completely analytic result for the resummed thermodynamic potential at three loops.