Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-field-theory-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2018/3/b/solution

Let and . Since changing the arbitrary renormalization scale must leave the bare theory fixed,
Write . Substitution gives, through order ,
Therefore , and the specified residue gives the renormalization-group beta function
The derivative is at fixed bare parameters. It does not say the physical theory changes when changes; the running coupling compensates the scale used to describe it. The coefficient also depends on defining the derivative with respect to , rather than ; using the latter would divide both terms by two.

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