Add a thermal scaling coordinate , with its critical value subtracted, satisfyingThis is a relevant direction of a fixed point. A thermal scaling coordinate agrees to leading order with a nonzero multiple of reduced temperature; in a general model it can mix several bare parameters. An ordering conjugate field is held at its critical value. The combined stability matrix at has eigenvalues and . Attraction along therefore does not make the critical point attractive against thermal detuning. The critical surface in this example is .
Let denote the correlation length in microscopic lattice units. A renormalization-group transformation of length factor givesIndeed, a tail with exponential envelope becomes under . Choose the stopping scale so that the transformed thermal coordinate is or . If the stopped correlation length tends to a finite nonzero value as the irrelevant coupling approaches , thenThe limit requires and enough room between , , and the sample size. Singular dependence on a dangerously irrelevant coupling or a marginal operator needs separate analysis. On an ordered branch, use the connected correlation function in a pure thermodynamic phase.
For a completely specified illustrative scaling model choose and for . Then gives , whereas gives . With , and . Models with and have different lengths but identical curves after plotting against . This collapse checks the chosen scaling law; agreement of real data would test that law, rather than follow from this example. Neither nor is being fitted to a three-dimensional Ising model.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 72 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The renormalization group organizes how a statistical system changes when observed at progressively larger length scales. Start with its partition function and a microscopic cutoff . Split the Fourier transform field into modes below and modes in the shell . Integrate the shell modes, rescale coordinates to restore the cutoff, and rescale the field to keep a chosen gradient normalization. This is a renormalization-group transformation. It preserves the partition function when the generated interactions and additive free energy terms are retained; truncating the resulting operator expansion is an approximation.
A renormalization-group fixed point has an invariant dimensionless interaction structure. The continuous flow of a nearby scaling field takes the linearized formA positive defines a relevant operator, a negative an irrelevant operator, and a zero a marginal operator requiring nonlinear analysis. The continuous-flow eigenvalues should not be confused with the discrete multipliers . To reach a critical point, tune the relevant thermal variable and set the relevant symmetry-breaking source to zero. The resulting flow stays on the critical surface.
Microscopically different systems whose remaining couplings approach the same fixed point share a universality class. Irrelevant perturbations lose their influence on long-distance exponents. Relevant directions explain why varying the temperature or field moves the system away from criticality. The thermal scaling field obeys , while the rescaled correlation length is . Taking therefore gives .
If the field has scaling dimension , the source term has eigenvalue . The singular free-energy density then obeyswhen the hyperscaling relation is valid. This derives the scaling hypothesis for critical phenomena and the exponent relations of Question 2 from the fixed-point picture.
At the Gaussian fixed point, keeping invariant gives . The quadratic coupling has and the quartic coupling has . Thus quartic interactions are relevant below four dimensions, marginal at four, and irrelevant above four. Below four, in dimensions where an ordinary continuous short-range scalar transition exists, an interacting Wilson-Fisher fixed point governs that transition. Above four, the Gaussian fixed point gives mean-field powers, but the quartic term remains necessary to stabilize the ordered state: it is a dangerously irrelevant coupling, explaining the failure of naive hyperscaling. The renormalization group connects scale invariance, universality, relevant tuning parameters and fluctuation corrections in one framework.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 64 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write for inverse temperature to distinguish it from the order-parameter critical exponent. A normalized blocking kernel is a nonnegative conditional distribution of coarse spins given the fine spins, normalized byFor deterministic blocking it can impose a majority rule or block average, with a Dirac delta replacing the sum constraint for continuous coarse variables. Each block occupies original cells, so the new lattice spacing and number of sites areThe physical volume is unchanged. After blockings, and .
Define the coarse statistical Hamiltonian by the exact Boltzmann-weight identityThe operator family must include all generated interactions for this renormalization-group transformation to be exact; restricting it to a few couplings is an approximation. The scalar has energy units and is the contribution per original site that is independent of . Restoring the original constant term giveshenceThis convention measures per original site; defining a constant per new site would move a factor into its definition.
The identity-operator contribution to renormalization-group free energy records the configuration-independent normalization generated by the eliminated spins. It includes their contribution to free energy, including entropy and measure factors, and need not be independent of temperature. It has no effect on normalized probabilities of the retained spins, but is indispensable for the total partition function and its temperature derivatives. Iterating its recursion givesThus is the original constant plus the accumulated free-energy contributions of the eliminated degrees of freedom.
To obtain the additive free-energy recursion under blocking, use energy-valued free energy per current lattice site,The blocking kernel normalization impliesSubstituting the recursion for cancels , givingA second step gives , and induction provesFor dimensionless free energy , multiply throughout by .
The singular free-energy density must be distinguished from the exact per-site representative . If is a regular background and , thenThus the same displayed inhomogeneous recursion holds with after subtraction. When a suitable analytic background solves , it leaves a homogeneous singular recursion. Analytic subtraction of an inhomogeneous renormalization recursion explains this separation. A renormalization-group free-energy resonance can obstruct analytic subtraction and produce a logarithm. The original function originates in the short-distance spins that were summed out, rather than in an extra external interaction.
Near a renormalization-group fixed point , linearize the transformation:An eigenvector of with eigenvalue defines a scaling coordinate with to leading order. A relevant operator has : its coupling grows towards large distances, so it must be tuned to reach the fixed point. An irrelevant operator has and dies away; a marginal operator has and requires higher-order flow analysis. An operator of scaling dimension has .
The coarse spins also require a multiplicative normalization. In continuum notation, writewhere is the retained field and is its anomalous dimension. This restores the normalization of the critical long-distance connected correlation function. Since a uniform field conjugate to an order parameter enters through , it has eigenvalue exponent .
Let be the thermal relevant coordinate with exponent . After regular backgrounds have been removed, the leading singular free-energy density obeysfor a large total scale factor . Choosing gives the scaling hypothesis for critical phenomenaTwo temperature derivatives give the heat-capacity critical exponent; one conjugate-field derivative gives the order-parameter critical exponent; two such derivatives give the magnetic-susceptibility critical exponent. Scaling the correlation length gives . Consequently,At , instead choose ; differentiating gives . These scaling relations for critical exponents assume that irrelevant variables can be set to their fixed-point values without singular consequences. A dangerously irrelevant coupling or logarithmic correction requires keeping the corresponding dependence.
For the Gaussian field theory, integrate out the Fourier modes in and retain . The modes are independent at zero external field, so this Gaussian thinning transformation changes the normalization by a Gaussian determinant and leaves a quadratic statistical Hamiltonian for the retained modes. Restore the cutoff withIn the integrated statistical Hamiltonian, the volume element contributes , each gradient contributes , and each field contributes . Thus the coefficient of the gradient energy is unchanged, whileIn particular , and . The Gaussian critical exponents and the Gaussian order-parameter scaling index therefore give the requested indicesThe sign convention corresponds to the physical conjugate field and does not affect these powers.
There are physical qualifications to these Gaussian indices. The strictly quadratic Gaussian field theory is stable for positive and has no stable ordered phase for negative ; its purported spontaneous is therefore the formal Gaussian order-parameter scaling index. A stabilizing quartic term gives an actual ordered phase. Below four dimensions that term is relevant and changes the exponents; above four dimensions it is a dangerously irrelevant coupling and gives the actual mean-field , rather than the Gaussian hyperscaling value.
The heat capacity power can also be checked directly. Apart from constants, the zero-field Gaussian free-energy density isIf , its singular second temperature derivative is controlled by . For , rescaling gives a power , as above. At there is a logarithm, and for an analytic background dominates the heat capacity. The negative formal Gaussian then describes the subleading singular piece, with logarithmic resonances at appropriate even dimensions. This is the Gaussian specific-heat infrared threshold, and it prevents confusing singular indices with the entire observable.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 46 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write to distinguish inverse temperature from an order-parameter critical exponent. For the Ising model, define the full two-point correlation function and its connected correlation function in a translation-invariant phase. Away from a thermodynamic critical point, the large-distance envelope decays exponentially, possibly multiplied by a power of distance:This defines the correlation length in physical distance units when the limit exists. At a continuous phase transition, and the critical connected correlation function typically has algebraic decay , where is the anomalous dimension. Below the transition the full tends to , so the decay definition must use .
Let and be the extensive Helmholtz free energy. Holding the field-independent constant and other physical couplings fixed,Because the Hamiltonian contains , and . Translation invariance then proves the correlation-function susceptibility sum rule:In the ordered zero-field phase these statements refer to a selected pure thermodynamic phase; averaging equally over opposite magnetizations introduces the separate spin-mixture contribution to zero-field susceptibility.
A normalized blocking kernel satisfies . For example, assign one block spin to each block of microscopic spins using majority sign, with equal probabilities for a tie. Define the blocked Hamiltonian, retaining the entire generated operator space, byThe field-independent contribution belongs to the identity operator. With andsumming over proves exactly. Iterating gives and the same partition function with . Observables at large scales are reproduced by appropriately blocked observables and sources. Truncating the generated interactions makes this an approximation; dropping the additive constant already destroys the equality of free energies even when normalized spin expectations remain correct.
The extensive Helmholtz free energy is unchanged: . In contrast, its value per site changes because the number of sites changes. Define the reduced zero-constant free-energy density in the thermodynamic limit. The preceding equality yieldsand iteration proves the additive free-energy recursion under blocking:Equivalently . Thus the inhomogeneous source records the identity-operator contribution to renormalization-group free energy from eliminated short-distance degrees of freedom.
To express this recursion for the singular part, write , where is the regular analytic background. Then the same displayed recursion holds with andThis is the analytic subtraction of an inhomogeneous renormalization recursion. A purely analytic source can often be absorbed into , after which it does not control the leading singular powers. It is not legitimate simply to discard an analytic source in the full free energy, where it can dominate the regular background. Moreover an analytic monomial contributesIf , the sum is and hence generates a logarithm when : a renormalization-group free-energy resonance. Such a term cannot be discarded when describing that logarithmic singularity. Neglect of the inhomogeneous term in the leading power-law scaling therefore assumes that its regular part has been subtracted, that any remaining source only changes finite scaling amplitudes, and that there are no relevant resonances or marginal logarithms. Omitting an irrelevant operator further requires absence of a dangerously irrelevant coupling, whose vanishing limit can make a scaling function singular.
A renormalization-group fixed point obeys . Linearization gives ; in eigenvector coordinates . Positive label relevant operators, negative label irrelevant operators, and zero labels a marginal operator requiring nonlinear analysis. The critical surface is the stable manifold obtained by tuning all relevant scaling fields to zero. A repulsive renormalization-group trajectory leaves the fixed point along a relevant direction as the observation length increases. Locally a typical zero-field section has , , , so the critical surface attracts along , while trajectories with either sign of depart from it. A magnetic scaling field adds another relevant direction.
Renormalization-group saddle flow in a zero-field section and two relevant directions transverse to the critical surface
. Details. Under the stated homogeneous-scaling assumptions and after fixing irrelevant fields at their limiting values, two relevant scaling fields obey , . These fields are analytic coordinates near the renormalization-group fixed point, proportional to the physical reduced temperature and conjugate field to leading order. The singular free-energy density consequently obeysHere denotes the singular free energy per original site or unit volume, with regular dimensional factors absorbed; the extensive singular part is . Iterate and choose to obtain the scaling hypothesis for critical phenomena:The sign labels the two sides of the transition: describes , the disordered side, while describes , the ordered side. The two functions need not coincide; has the zero-field one-sided derivative appropriate to spontaneous magnetization. The numbers are scaling eigenvalues in logarithmic form: the corresponding discrete RG multipliers are .
The correlation length obeys . The same scale choice gives . Differentiating once and twice with respect to the conjugate field, and twice with respect to temperature, givesAt , instead choose the scale . Then and , so . Thus differentiation and scale matching establishThe first is the Widom scaling relation and the second the hyperscaling relation. The hyperscaling relation requires precisely the regular homogeneous scaling used here. Above the ordinary upper critical dimension, the quartic coupling is dangerously irrelevant in the ordered phase and this derivation cannot discard it: the mean-field critical exponents , do not obey for . At marginal dimensions logarithmic factors likewise require care beyond the displayed pure powers.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 46 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Diagonalizing the linearized blocking map gives perturbations . A relevant operator has , equivalently for a discrete scaling multiplier: its perturbation grows under repeated coarse-graining and must be tuned to reach the critical fixed point. An irrelevant operator has and decays, usually contributing corrections to scaling. A marginal operator has , so linearization alone is insufficient; nonlinear flow can make it marginally relevant or irrelevant, or exactly marginal.
For an ordinary spin-inversion-symmetric critical point the temperature and magnetic field are relevant. Fixing by symmetry leaves the temperature to tune. At a tricritical point the quartic coupling is another relevant tuning direction. A dangerously irrelevant coupling is an exception to simply discarding small variables: setting it to zero can destabilize the ordered potential or make its scaling function singular, even though it flows toward zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 51 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use for inverse temperature, to distinguish it from the order-parameter critical exponent . In a translation-invariant pure thermodynamic phase, the connected two-point correlation function isFor finite correlation length, at it decays exponentially, possibly with an algebraic prefactor; is the asymptotic exponential decay rate. Below an ordered transition the pure phase is selected by taking the thermodynamic limit before or . A zero-field symmetric mixture of the two ordered phases has a nondecaying connected term and does not describe the usual pure-phase magnetic susceptibility.
Let denote extensive physical free energy and . Since the field contributes to the statistical Hamiltonian, differentiation givesExpanding the variance and using translation invariance proves the correlation-function susceptibility sum rule:The sum includes . If the source is instead defined as the dimensionless quantity , the corresponding derivative omits the displayed inverse-temperature factor.
A real-space renormalization group step of length factor uses a local blocking kernel satisfying . For example, a deterministic majority-spin rule assigns one coarse Ising spin to each block; tied blocks can be resolved with equal probabilities. Define the blocked statistical Hamiltonian byThe spacing becomes . All generated interactions, including multispin terms and the field-independent constant, must be retained for an exact transformation. Summing over uses normalization to prove . Iteration gives and .
The coarse probability law is the exact marginal law of these block variables. Indeed, for any coarse observable , its expected value is the microscopic expected value of . A blocking rule that retains the long-wavelength order-parameter mode, with source and observable transformations tracked, therefore retains long-distance response and correlation functions. Their field normalization may change, while their physical length scales and critical singularities do not. Partition-function equality alone would not justify this assertion for an arbitrary kernel that discards all slow variables. Truncating the generated operator family is likewise an approximation.
For the free-energy recursion use dimensionless free energy per site,in the thermodynamic limit. Exact partition-function invariance gives . If one step sends to , the coefficient records the identity-operator contribution from eliminated fluctuations and normalization. ConsequentlyRepeated substitution derives the additive free-energy recursion under blocking:In physical energy units, divide this convention by . The additive term is essential for absolute free energies even when it does not affect the leading critical powers.
A renormalization-group fixed point satisfies . Linearize in scaling coordinates so that . A relevant operator has , an irrelevant operator has , and a marginal operator has with behaviour decided by nonlinear terms. Thus the eigenvalues of the discrete linear map are ; the sign criterion applies to the generator exponents , not to the discrete multipliers. The critical surface is the stable manifold on which every relevant scaling field has been tuned away. Irrelevant coordinates flow to the renormalization-group fixed point along it. A repulsive renormalization-group trajectory leaves the renormalization-group fixed point along an unstable relevant direction, ultimately entering a noncritical phase or another scaling regime.
Local renormalization-group flow in the zero-field slice: attraction along the critical surface and repulsion in the thermal direction
. Details. To separate the singular free-energy density from its regular background, suppose the eliminated-mode contribution is analytic near the renormalization-group fixed point. Look for an analytic background satisfying . Then satisfies . In linear thermal and field coordinates, an analytic monomial has background coefficientprovided the denominator is nonzero. This explicitly explains when analytic subtraction of an inhomogeneous renormalization recursion works. The printed inhomogeneous equation may describe the free-energy function before this subtraction, or a singular part defined only up to analytic terms. The inhomogeneous sum need not be small compared with the full free energy: an analytic constant can dominate a vanishing singular contribution. It can be omitted in deriving leading singular powers after regular subtraction, provided no renormalization-group free-energy resonance, marginal logarithm or dangerously irrelevant coupling obstructs the homogeneous critical asymptotics. At a renormalization-group free-energy resonance , additive logarithms can remain, so simply dropping the term would miss them.
Suppose there are exactly two relevant scaling fields, thermal and magnetic , with positive exponents , and the remaining fields approach a regular limit. Physical reduced temperature and magnetic field agree with these coordinates to leading order, up to nonuniversal metric factors. The homogeneous scaling hypothesis for critical phenomena isas an asymptotic scaling equation. Choose to make the thermal argument or . Defining givesThe two functions describe respectively and : approaching the transition from disordered and ordered sides need not give the same function. In particular the ordered zero-field function has one-sided derivatives associated with spontaneous magnetization. Metric factors multiply this formula in different microscopic normalizations.
The correlation length in Bravais lattice units obeys . At , the same choice of gives . Two thermal derivatives of give . One and two field derivatives give, respectively, and , assuming the relevant branch amplitudes are nonzero. At , choose ; then , so . HenceSimple algebra now gives the Rushbrooke scaling relation and the hyperscaling relation . Also , giving the Widom scaling relation. These statements refer to leading singular contributions with the homogeneous two-field scaling assumptions. Above the upper critical dimension, the quartic coupling is dangerously irrelevant because it is still needed to stabilize the ordered phase; ordinary mean-field critical exponents then satisfy Rushbrooke and Widom but generally not hyperscaling. Marginal logarithms also require qualifications at the upper critical dimension.
For the connected-correlation scaling form , the function tends to a finite nonzero value as and decays exponentially at large , up to powers of , in a massive short-range phase. The scaling ansatz alone does not fix that prefactor. If the usual massive Gaussian field correlation tail applies, matching the powers gives , with a correlation-length-dependent amplitude in fixed by matching the critical scaling form.
In physical coordinates the lattice sum has site-density factor . Its long-distance singular part therefore giveswhere is the area of the unit sphere in dimensions. For , finite , an integrable exponential tail and a nonzero integral, the last factor tends to a finite nonzero constant as . Microscopic distances contribute a regular background. Thus , proving the Fisher scaling relationEquivalently the field has scaling dimension , so its conjugate field has , which gives the same identity from the exponent formulas above.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 50 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use for inverse temperature, to distinguish it from the order-parameter exponent. In a translation-invariant pure thermodynamic phase, the connected correlation function isThe subtraction is essential below the transition. Its exponential correlation length is defined by , with direction specified if the lattice is anisotropic. Away from criticality, has a tail proportional to times an algebraic prefactor. In the massive continuum scalar approximation that prefactor is ; at criticality the exponential cutoff disappears and instead. The large-distance limit here is , as the PDF shows.
Let . With the energy convention , the magnetization per site and magnetic susceptibility areWriting , direct differentiation of the partition function gives . Thus the correlation-function susceptibility sum rule isIn physical continuum coordinates the lattice sum becomes , so omitting the site-density factor would change the normalization. A derivative with respect to the dimensionless source instead absorbs the explicit inverse-temperature factor.
An exact renormalization-group transformation with length factor can be defined by a nonnegative normalized blocking kernel satisfying . A deterministic majority rule is one example; randomized tie-breaking preserves its normalization. Define the blocked energy, including its constant, bySumming over proves . All generated operators must be retained for this identity to remain exact; a finite-coupling truncation is an approximation. After iterations, and the spacing is . Long-distance physics is preserved because this is a marginalization of microscopic probabilities, with observables and sources transformed along with the energy. It integrates short-distance variables rather than changing their effects on retained observables. Physical lengths remain fixed even though the correlation length in units of the new spacing is reduced by .
For clarity, now use dimensionless free energy per site . Exact equality of the partition functions givesA constant microscopic energy shifts every blocked weight by the same factor, so . Substitution at one step yields the additive free-energy recursion under blockingInduction now gives the requested relationThe function is the identity-operator contribution to renormalization-group free energy: it records eliminated-mode entropy, integration constants and normalization factors. A free-energy function satisfying this inhomogeneous equation need not be purely singular until its analytic background has been subtracted.
At a renormalization-group fixed point, . Linearize in scaling coordinates so . Here is a scaling exponent, not the discrete multiplier itself. A positive gives a relevant operator, a negative one an irrelevant operator, and zero a marginal operator. The critical surface is the stable manifold: tune every relevant scaling field to zero and the irrelevant coordinates flow toward . A repulsive renormalization-group trajectory leaves along a relevant direction; it can still have irrelevant coordinates contracting toward that manifold. The plot shows the section when temperature and field are relevant: is the critical line in this section, while an independent nonzero field is another direction away from criticality.
Renormalization-group trajectories near a critical fixed point, showing thermal repulsion and irrelevant contraction in the zero-field section
. Details. The inhomogeneous term cannot simply be discarded from the full free energy. If an analytic background solves , its subtraction leaves obeying homogeneous scaling. For example, in linear thermal and field coordinates, a source monomial is removed byWhen the denominator vanishes, the source is resonant and can instead produce a logarithm. Thus the homogeneous singular equation is justified after analytic subtraction when there is no relevant resonance affecting the leading singularity, no marginal logarithm that has been omitted, and no singular dependence on a dangerously irrelevant coupling. Merely saying that is regular is insufficient to discard the whole weighted sum without this analysis.
Under these assumptions, with two relevant scaling fields , choose so that is of order one. The scaling hypothesis for critical phenomena then givesWriting recovers the PDF's notation:The sign labels the two matching branches and , which enter different phases when the flow leaves the critical neighborhood. The constants retain a branch-dependent identity contribution or a chosen split of the scaling function. They are determined by the same matching problem, not independently adjustable nonuniversal free-energy offsets. An arbitrary analytic offset from belongs to the subtracted background. The formula describes the singular part; adding that background recovers the full physical free energy.
At , restore the common metric factors as . Their ratio at equal is , proving the expected universal singular free-energy amplitude ratio because and cancel. The ratio of full free energies including an arbitrary regular is not universal; zero amplitudes and logarithmic resonances also require separate treatment.
The critical exponents are obtained by rescaling and differentiating, not by identifying them with the discrete multipliers. The correlation length obeys , hence . Two temperature derivatives of give , while one and two field derivatives give the ordered magnetization and susceptibility powers. ThusFor , instead set and choose the blocking scale by , obtaining and then differentiate. A nonzero spontaneous ordered-branch derivative is assumed in the formula for . In particular the hyperscaling relation is . Its physical assumption is an order-one singular free energy per correlation volume, with a single diverging length and no dangerous variable changing its volume scaling. Above the upper critical dimension, a stabilizing quartic coupling can invalidate that assumption even though the correlation length still scales.
For the last model, take the quadratic Hamiltonian exactly as visually printed: its source term is , outside the half multiplying the gradient and mass terms. With and , its connected quadratic covariance is proportional toThe pole scale, or the massive Gaussian field correlation tail obtained by its Fourier transform, givesThe uniform source shifts the mean to and does not change the connected covariance. Replacing by matches the earlier magnetic source convention without changing any scaling index.
Define a Gaussian thinning transformation by retaining momenta , integrating the Gaussian shell, and rescalingThe gradient coefficient is unchanged. Counting volume and field powers in the remaining action givesShell integration contributes only the additive determinant term. Thus when the thermal variable is proportional to , and . Inserting these into the homogeneous index formulas gives the requested Gaussian critical exponentsThe specific-heat power can also be verified without hyperscaling: two mass-squared derivatives of produce an integral proportional to . For , rescaling gives ; at the divergence is logarithmic, with power index zero. At the determinant itself has an additive resonance, although its heat-capacity power remains one.
There is a genuine limitation to the last printed request. The Gaussian order-parameter scaling index is formal: a pure quadratic theory has at , and at the uniform energy is unbounded below, so its partition function diverges. It therefore has no stable ordered branch from which a spontaneous-magnetization exponent can be measured. The thinning derivation establishes the index requested by the PDF, but not a nonexistent ordered phase. A stabilizing quartic interaction is relevant for and generally changes these Gaussian indices to the interacting critical ones.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 43 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take the connected correlation functionFor a massive phase its large-distance form is an algebraic prefactor times , defining the exponential correlation length . To specify the normalization of magnetic susceptibility, add to the energy and differentiate the mean spin. Translation invariance gives the correlation-function susceptibility sum ruleUsing the dimensionless source removes the prefactor . Below the transition, use a selected pure phase rather than a mixture of the two magnetizations, which would have a macroscopic disconnected fluctuation.
Choose a nonnegative blocking kernel normalized by . It may enforce a block average, a majority rule or a chosen rescaled coarse spin. Define the transformed weight bySumming this identity over coarse spins shows exact preservation of the partition function. The geometrical changes are and . A coordinate rescaling subsequently restores the reference cutoff if desired. The transformation is exact only if all generated operators are retained; a finite-coupling truncation is an approximation.
Define the coupling-independent term generated when byRestoring the original gives the identity-operator contribution to renormalization-group free energy:The parameter is an accumulated additive energy per coarse site. It multiplies the identity operator and leaves normalized spin probabilities unchanged, but it must be kept when calculating the absolute free energy. It records the eliminated-mode entropy and the normalization of their statistical measure.
Use an energy-per-site convention: and , so . Partition-function invariance givesConsequently, with ,This is the additive free-energy recursion under blocking. In a dimensionless free-energy convention multiply by ; the same recursion holds. The inhomogeneous term comes from the generated identity operator, not from a change in the spin-dependent couplings alone.
The affine equation naturally applies to the unsubtracted free energy. To extract its singular part, write and choose a regular background satisfying . Subtraction then gives . This analytic subtraction of an inhomogeneous renormalization recursion is justified when the eliminated finite-shell contribution is analytic near the fixed point and admits a regular subtraction. It can fail in a resonant direction, producing additive logarithms. The simple homogeneous formulas also assume the remaining irrelevant operators are not dangerously irrelevant couplings, and that marginal operators do not produce unaccounted logarithmic corrections. Calling the quantity in the affine equation “singular” does not make vanish automatically.
Near a renormalization-group fixed point , linearize the coupling map. In scaling coordinates , write to leading order. Here is a discrete multiplier, whereas is its logarithmic scaling exponent. A relevant operator has and grows under coarse-graining; an irrelevant operator has and decays. A marginal operator needs nonlinear analysis. Tuning the relevant fields to zero places the system on the critical surface. At the fixed point the spin field is rescaled as with . Its conjugate source therefore has . This accounts for both coupling and spin rescaling; the field normalization is part of the transformation, not a change in the physical microscopic spin length.
Assume the thermal field and magnetic field are the only remaining relevant directions. The homogeneous scaling hypothesis for critical phenomena givesChoose the stopping scale with . Thenwhere is the branch for and the branch for . Nonuniversal metric factors can be absorbed into the definitions of and these functions. Correlation lengths transform as , so . Differentiating the singular free energy twice with respect to temperature gives , and hence the hyperscaling relationTwo source derivatives similarly give . A single source derivative gives the ordered-branch exponent , and setting and scaling to one gives when the corresponding magnetization branch exists. These show explicitly how the critical exponents follow from the fixed-point scaling eigenvalues.
The independent correlation derivation uses with a single crossover scaling function. For lattice spacing , the singular continuum contribution to the magnetic susceptibility isHere is the area of the unit -sphere. The final integral is finite and nonzero when , is finite and nonzero, and the tail decays exponentially. Microscopic distances contribute a regular background. With this proves the Fisher scaling relationThere is an amplitude qualification in the printed large-distance formula: its tail has the Gaussian shape and, taken literally with amplitude independent of , integrates to a term proportional to . For a nonzero anomalous exponent it must instead be matched to the critical short-distance normalization. The matching the amplitude of a massive critical correlation tail givesAt this has precisely the same overall scaling as the critical form. Thus the requested identity uses the full scaling hypothesis, or equivalently this implicit amplitude factor. The printed tail without it is consistent as written in the Gaussian case .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 49 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use a selected translationally invariant pure thermodynamic phase and define the connected lattice correlation functionAway from criticality its long-distance tail has an exponential factor , possibly multiplied by a power. Equivalently when this limit exists; different directions can have different lengths on an anisotropic lattice. At a thermodynamic critical point the correlation length diverges and the tail becomes algebraic. Differentiate with respect to the physical field appearing in the energy Statistical Hamiltonian. With , the correlation-function susceptibility sum rule isIn physical continuum coordinates the sum becomes . Differentiating with respect to the dimensionless source instead removes the explicit inverse-temperature factor. Below the transition, take a one-sided pure-phase limit rather than a macroscopic symmetric mixture.
A normalized blocking kernel assigns a probability or a delta constraint to a coarse configuration for each microscopic one, with . Define the blocked Boltzmann weight bySumming over proves exact equality of the partition functions. Repeated real-space renormalization group steps compose the kernels and integrate out shorter-scale variables. To retain equality one must keep all generated interactions and the field-independent constant; a finite truncation is an approximation. Long-distance observables are mapped through the corresponding coarse observables, not identified blindly with microscopic spins. In physical units,A subsequent coordinate rescaling restores the reference lattice spacing while expressing couplings in cutoff units.
Let be free energy per microscopic site. Invariance of givesThe constant transforms as . Therefore, with , the identity-operator contribution to renormalization-group free energy givesThe second equality follows by substitution and induction. The inhomogeneous term records eliminated-mode entropy, determinants, and normalization factors, all multiplying the identity operator; it is not an interaction with the retained spins. Strictly, this can contain regular background terms. After an analytic subtraction of an inhomogeneous renormalization recursion, the genuinely singular part satisfies the homogeneous scaling equation, except for possible logarithmic resonances.
A renormalization-group fixed point satisfies . Linearize in scaling coordinates : . A relevant operator has , an irrelevant operator has , and a marginal operator has and needs nonlinear analysis. These are logarithmic scaling eigenvalues; the discrete Jacobian eigenvalues are , not . The critical surface is the stable manifold obtained by tuning all relevant coordinates to zero. A repulsive renormalization-group trajectory leaves the fixed point along a relevant direction as the coarse-graining length grows. Stable and unstable manifolds become curved away from linear order.
Linear renormalization-group flows: attraction along a critical surface and repulsion in two relevant directions
. Details. The left section has , one irrelevant coordinate and a relevant thermal coordinate . Its critical surface is in that section. With two relevant variables, the full critical surface has codimension two: the second section shows repulsion in the plane at .
Assume an isolated fixed point with two relevant scaling fields, analytic changes from physical controls to , short-range isotropic scaling, no dangerously irrelevant variable in the thermodynamic scaling function, and no marginal or resonant logarithm. Let denote their scaling eigenvalues. The homogeneous singular free-energy density obeysChoose a stopping scale so the renormalized thermal field is order one. Irrelevant fields vanish at this scale. With and ,Continuous scale interpolation absorbs the immaterial integer stopping-scale convention. Nonuniversal thermal, field and free-energy metric factors can be included explicitly; the normalized functions depend only on the universality class. The and labels refer to and , which flow to different sides of the critical surface.
For clarity about the additive terms, let solve . If , its analytic coefficients areprovided the denominators do not vanish. Subtracting makes the recursion homogeneous. A vanishing denominator is a resonance and generically produces logarithms, which the simple power-law hypothesis excludes. In a convention where the regular field-dependent background has been subtracted, write and . This yields the requested formThe contain branch-dependent matching contributions; only is physically determined. The are nonsingular functions analytic through the thermodynamic critical point and represent the same regular Taylor background on the two sides, though either branch may be used to describe them. For the full free energy at nonzero field, the regular background is generally , not just . Adding an analytic identity-operator contribution proportional to provides a direct counterexample to an exact unrestricted formula; it changes no singular exponents. The printed expression is justified for the leading singular scaling form with that analytic field background removed. Confluent corrections from irrelevant fields are also omitted in this leading form.
Differentiate the singular scaling form, with one-sided derivatives in the ordered phase. It givesThe length transforms as , so . Thus the Rushbrooke scaling relation and hyperscaling relation follow by direct substitution:The same reasoning also gives . Hyperscaling relation relies on the assumptions above and can fail above an upper critical dimension because of a stabilizing dangerously irrelevant coupling.
For the universal specific-heat amplitude ratio, write at . Two temperature derivatives multiply both branches by the same dimensional and thermal metric factors. Away from logarithmic resonances and exceptional zero amplitudes, with the same heat-capacity sign convention on both sides. HenceThe functions and their matched branch constants are tied to the fixed-point theory; the constants are not independent arbitrary experimental parameters. If , this means the amplitudes of the subleading singular contribution after subtracting the analytic specific-heat background. A finite background ratio itself need not be universal.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 42 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work in a translation-invariant pure thermodynamic phase, and write to distinguish inverse temperature from the order-parameter exponent. The connected correlation function isAway from criticality in the massive scalar order channel, it decays exponentially, possibly multiplied by an algebraic factor. An exponential correlation length is defined by when that limit exists. At a continuous transition diverges and the critical decay is algebraic. In an ordered symmetric mixture, a nondecaying contribution can remain; selecting a pure branch prevents confusing it with connected critical fluctuations.
Let and . Differentiating the partition function with the energy term gives the correlation-function susceptibility sum ruleIf the source is instead the dimensionless , the explicit inverse-temperature factor is absent. In continuum physical coordinates the lattice sum is approximately .
Choose a normalized blocking kernel such that , replacing the sum by an integral for continuous variables. A deterministic example is a product of delta functions imposing that each coarse variable equals the average of spins in a block of sites, with its field normalization included consistently. Define the effective Boltzmann weight byKernel normalization makes the blocked partition function exactly equal to the original. Its coarse-grained variables retain the long-distance observables through their defining relation to the original fields. An exact RG step generally generates all symmetry-allowed operators; keeping only a small coupling set is an approximation, not an exact closure assumption. The geometrical coarse lattice hasso its physical volume is unchanged. A subsequent coordinate rescaling may restore the numerical lattice spacing to its initial value, which is the equivalent rescaled-coordinate convention.
Here define as free energy per lattice site, . Exact partition-function invariance givesBecause multiplies the identity operator, a blocking step has , where is the generated constant per blocked site. With this impliesThe identity-operator contribution to renormalization-group free energy includes the eliminated modes' entropy, connected vacuum terms and field-measure normalization. It cannot be discarded when calculating an absolute free energy, even though it cancels out of normalized correlation functions.
There is a useful convention behind the word “singular” in this inhomogeneous equation. After removing , still contains a regular coupling-dependent background. If and , then the genuinely nonanalytic part obeys . Thus the printed inhomogeneous representative and homogeneous singular scaling below are consistent after background subtraction. At resonances or marginal points this subtraction may leave additive or multiplicative logarithms; a strictly homogeneous pure-power form is then qualified accordingly.
A renormalization-group fixed point satisfies . Diagonalizing the linearized map gives scaling coordinates . For increasing coarse-graining length, defines a relevant operator, an irrelevant operator, and a marginal operator, whose fate needs nonlinear analysis. Here the are logarithmic scaling exponents: the eigenvalues of the discrete Jacobian matrix are , not the numbers themselves. The critical surface is the stable manifold flowing into the critical fixed point after every relevant scaling field is tuned to zero. A repulsive renormalization-group trajectory leaves the fixed point along relevant directions and flows toward a different long-distance phase.
For the requested two relevant fields, take and , with . Ignoring nonsingular irrelevant corrections and choosing a total blocking scale , the homogeneous singular free-energy density obeysChoose so the renormalized thermal field is . This provesMetric factors and regular analytic redefinitions of the scaling fields only change amplitudes. Likewise , so at the correlation-length critical exponent is . Two thermal derivatives of give the heat-capacity critical exponent , proving the hyperscaling relationTwo field derivatives also give ; one field derivative gives , and using to set the blocking scale on the critical isotherm gives . These statements assume that no dangerously irrelevant coupling makes the scaling function singular as it is removed. In particular the naive hyperscaling form need not describe the quartic ordered phase above four dimensions, where its stabilizing quartic coupling is dangerously irrelevant. That restriction reconciles this derivation with the mean-field exponents and Question 3.
The scaling form of the connected correlation function is in the continuum long-distance regime. For , tends to a finite nonzero constant. For , it decays exponentially with a possible algebraic prefactor; an isolated massive pole gives the familiar Ornstein--Zernike correlation function tail with a temperature-dependent amplitude. Exponential decay is the essential feature; the same critical algebraic power need not remain the exact large-distance prefactor.
Using the susceptibility sum rule and spherical integration givesFor and an ordinary exponentially decaying scaling function the integral tends to a finite constant: it converges at zero because is finite, and at infinity because of the exponential decay. Microscopic distances add a regular background. Thus , establishing the Fisher scaling relation
For a continuous field, field scaling and anomalous dimension giveThis field renormalization is additional to the canonical engineering factor . It makes . Invariance of the uniform source coupling then gives , agreeing with the susceptibility exponent above. With a convention , the fixed-point choice is ; the sign of the logarithmic derivative depends on this stated convention.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 44 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
In the Wilsonian effective action picture, integrate out field modes in a high-momentum shell and encode their effects in the action for the retained modes. Rescale lengths and fields to compare the resulting theory at the original cutoff. The couplings then follow a renormalization-group flow, while low-energy predictions are preserved. In general all local interactions allowed by the symmetries are generated, even if only a few appear in the initial action.
Near a renormalization-group fixed point, a perturbation with scaling dimension has linearized eigenvalue . Under coarse graining by , its dimensionless coupling scales as . A relevant operator has , so its perturbation grows toward long distances; an irrelevant operator has and decreases; a marginal operator has and needs nonlinear flow to determine its behavior. Marginality at linear order need not mean exact scale independence. Interactions can be marginally relevant or marginally irrelevant operators.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 303 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Compute the coupling flow at zero magnetic field, or assume the source has support only in retained Fourier modes, so that the shell Gaussian measure is centered. First justify the shell propagator. For a positive quadratic kernel on the shell, the Gaussian functional integral gives covariance equal to the inverse kernel,with both momenta restricted to . Inserting the Fourier transforms and using the Dirac delta function yields the Gaussian shell covarianceChanging to gives the negative-exponent convention as well. The dependence is on the separation, as required by translation invariance. The printed numerator uses alone: it is correct only if that symbol means the separation or if . For example at , the covariance must equal the constant coincident value , while the literal printed integral generally depends on . Thus the missing separation is a real source qualification, not a change of Fourier-sign convention.
Integrating out the shell gives , up to a field-independent constant. At first order in , the cumulant expansion of a coarse-grained free energy retains . Odd moments of the centered Gaussian measure vanish and Wick theorem gives . Writing ,The last term affects only the constant; the second is a momentum-independent tadpole diagram correction. Before rescaling it changes to , leaves the quartic coefficient at , and produces no gradient correction. Combining with part (a) gives the leading coupling recursionThis is one-loop shell mass renormalization in scalar quartic theory. Here . The shell Gaussian is well defined if there; near this follows from . A negative slow-mode mass may be stabilized by the retained quartic term and does not require pretending that the full unconstrained quadratic measure at negative mass is normalizable.
Linearizing about givesIts mass and quartic eigenvalues are and . The off-diagonal term is an additive critical-mass shift: setting the bare is not generally the critical tuning when . The mass remains relevant for every ; at the two linear eigenvalues coincide and the matrix can have a Jordan block, but both perturbations are still relevant.
For , the quartic interaction is an irrelevant operator, and the Gaussian fixed point attracts weak quartic perturbations after the mass and magnetic field have been tuned. The quartic can nevertheless be a dangerously irrelevant coupling: its positive value stabilizes the ordered phase. For , it is a relevant operator, so the Gaussian description is unstable toward interactions. At it is a marginal operator; first-order perturbation theory alone does not decide its fate.
To settle that borderline case, retain the leading quartic contribution from the second cumulant, at zero external momentum in the local expansion. The two-fast-field part of is . Since , its connected second cumulant contributesKeeping the local quartic term and using Parseval identity gives , where . Thus the one-loop shell quartic renormalization isThe coefficient follows from multiplying the quartic density correction by . This local, zero-external-momentum coupling extraction is not a claim that the exact finite-shell effective action retains only its original polynomial; further operators are generated.
More explicitly, for a thin shell , let , and . With increasing length scale , the leading flow isThis convention has the opposite scale direction to a renormalization-group beta function defined using increasing momentum. On the tuned critical surface at , and , so weak positive is marginally irrelevant, tending to zero with logarithmic corrections rather than remaining an exactly marginal parameter. Just below four dimensions, with , the same calculation yields the Wilson-Fisher fixed point , . It does not justify extrapolating a small- expansion to every lower dimension. The ordinary scalar quartic upper critical dimension is therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 303 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Absorb into the free energy, so the statistical weight is . Under the Gaussian fixed point rescaling, invariance of the gradient energy gives the engineering dimensionThe engineering dimensions of are respectively . Their coupling eigenvalues are , hence . The quadratic and quartic interactions are relevant operators; the sextic interaction is a marginal operator at this order.
The three steps of the momentum-shell renormalization group are:
- Split into slow modes and fast modes , and integrate over .
- Rescale to restore the ultraviolet cutoff to .
- Rescale the field as to normalize the gradient energy.
Here , so increasing means flowing toward longer distances. At leading order, the fast field has a Gaussian distribution with covarianceThis perturbative integration requires on the shell. By the Wick theorem, odd fast-field moments vanish and , . Therefore the first term of the cumulant expansion of a coarse-grained free energy isThis is the quartic interaction generated by a sextic interaction. Including the rescaling, the requested flow isIn spherical coordinates, . In particular, for ,The same integration shifts the quadratic coefficient by before rescaling and adds an irrelevant constant to the free energy. Thus setting the bare quartic coupling to zero does not place the theory on the tricritical critical surface.
To calculate the sextic renormalization-group beta function to second order, let . The required cumulant expansion isThe subtraction removes disconnected contributions. The term at each vertex supplies the primitive sextic correction. The Wick contractions giveThe first term contains three propagators connecting the two vertices; its factor is the number of bijections between the three fields at each vertex. The second contains a local tadpole diagram at each vertex and one connecting propagator. The primitive contribution to the free energy is thereforeExpanding the slow fields about a common point gives a negative local sextic correction proportional towhere restricts a momentum to the shell. This connected Feynman diagram has two independent loop momenta. Other Wick contractions also generate lower interactions and tadpole diagrams; they must be included or subtracted consistently when fixing the tricritical critical surface.
To extract the logarithmic tricritical sextic beta function, use normal ordering to remove local tadpoles and tune the quadratic and quartic relevant operators. The massless three-dimensional propagator is . The same three-line contraction over short separations givesIts positive coefficient and the negative sign of the second cumulant expansion term establish the sign of the flow. Matching this logarithm to a renormalized coupling, or performing consistent iterated shell integration, givesThe precise normalization of is not needed. In a sharp momentum cutoff scheme, simply forcing all three internal momenta into one infinitesimal shell does not extract this two-loop logarithm: the shell restrictions remove its linear-in- phase space. The finite-shell cumulant and the logarithmic renormalized calculation above are distinct stages of the computation. Field normalization corrections at order enter this renormalization-group beta function only at order .
A positive, stabilizing sextic coupling is marginally irrelevant in three dimensions on the tricritical critical surface. Reversing the convention for reverses the sign of the renormalization-group beta function. A negative sextic coupling without higher stabilizing powers makes the potential unbounded; moreover, the untuned bare choice generally flows away through its generated relevant operator.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 303 3 i Solution 2026-10-03
At a critical point, a local field operator has scaling dimension if under coarse-graining by . The coupling in has renormalization-group eigenvalueA perturbation is a relevant operator when , an irrelevant operator when , and a marginal operator when ; nonlinear terms in its renormalization-group beta function decide the fate of a marginal coupling. Irrelevant microscopic interactions decay under coarse-graining, so many distinct systems approach the same fixed point and share one universality class.
Near criticality the singular free energy density is of order one per correlation volume:The heat capacity contains two derivatives with respect to temperature, soConsequently the hyperscaling relation is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 304 2 b Solution 2026-10-03
Introduce the renormalization-group beta functions and field anomalous dimensionIndependence of physics from the arbitrary sliding scale gives the functional Callan-Symanzik equationup to the equivalent sign convention obtained by defining with a minus sign. For an operator of dimension containing fields, differentiating its coefficient shows the canonical and wave-function pieceswhere contains mixing among local field operators and genuine corrections at higher loop order. Thus , , and canonically produce relevant operators, marginal operators, and irrelevant operators, respectively, before anomalous corrections.





