The quartic interaction includes the Gaussian fixed point, single and double Ising model Wilson-Fisher fixed points, and an O(N) model fixed point with . A rotation of two decoupled identical Ising models produces a second coordinate representation of their renormalization-group fixed point.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 303 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
At the Gaussian fixed point, , so all three quartic couplings have engineering dimension . ThusTake and , as in the perturbative epsilon expansion. Define , , . The renormalization-group fixed point equations becomeIf , each of is independently or , giving four renormalization-group fixed points. If , subtracting the first two equations givesThe branch forces ; inserting this in the first equation yields a repeated root . Hence every nonzero- solution has . Then , andhas roots and . The complete list of six coupled Ising fixed points near four dimensions, in coordinates , isThe internal symmetries of these renormalization-group fixed points are:
- The Gaussian fixed point has an orthogonal group acting on the two identical free massless fields.
- is one Ising model Wilson-Fisher fixed point and one free field. Its linear internal symmetry is ; the two sectors cannot be exchanged. The point has the same symmetry with the roles reversed.
- describes two identical decoupled Ising models. It additionally permits field exchange, giving , the eight-element dihedral group .
- has . Its interaction is , so it is the O(N) model Wilson-Fisher fixed point with and symmetry.
- has . Its symmetry is again the eight-element dihedral group , not .
The last point displays the field-rotation equivalence of decoupled Ising theories. With the orthogonal transformation ,It is the same pair of decoupled Ising models written in fields rotated by , but remains a distinct coordinate solution of the stated renormalization-group beta functions. Here denotes the dihedral group of order eight; an alternative convention calls it . We have described linear internal transformations preserving the gradient energy; free massless sectors also have constant scalar-field shift symmetries. At , the six coordinates coalesce at the Gaussian fixed point.
Phase stiffness 2026-10-05
The phase stiffness is the coefficient of in the long-distance free energy. Its renormalized value determines the thermal phase fluctuations and algebraic correlation function of a two-dimensional O(N) model with .