Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / iii / Paper 50 / 4

Write $\rho =m^2{\Lambda }^{-2}$ for the PDF's signed mass coordinate $u^2$, and $K_D={\Omega }_D/(2\pi {)}^D$. The superscript on $u^2$ is notation here, not a restriction to positive mass. In a momentum-shell renormalization group step, remove momenta $\Lambda e^{-d\ell }<|p|<\Lambda$ and set $\ell =\log ({\Lambda }_0/\Lambda )$, the PDF's $b$. Split the scalar field into a slow field $\phi$ and a fast field $\eta$, whose Gaussian shell covariance is $(p^2+m^2{)}^{-1}$. The shell must have a positive quadratic kernel; $1+\rho >0$ near the fixed point meets this requirement.

Expand the coarse action by the cumulant expansion of a coarse-grained free energy. In the first cumulant of $V=g\int (\phi +\eta {)}^4/4!$, the term with two fast fields is $(g/4)\int {\phi }^2⟨{\eta }^2⟩$. Thus the one-loop shell mass renormalization in scalar quartic theory isFor the quartic correction, the two-fast-field vertex is $(g/4)\int {\phi }^2{\eta }^2$. Its connected second cumulant has a minus sign and uses $⟨{\eta }^2(x){\eta }^2(y){⟩}_c=2G_{>}(x-y{)}^2$. It givesTaking the local zero-external-momentum quartic part produces $\delta g=-3g^2{I}_2/2$, where $I_2={\int }_{\mathrm{shell}}{d}^{D}p(2\pi {)}^{-D}(p^2+m^2{)}^{-2}$. This derives the combinatorial factors in the one-loop shell quartic renormalization. The mass tadpole is independent of external momentum; kinetic normalization changes only at higher order for the leading epsilon calculation.

For an infinitesimal spherical shell, radial integration givesLowering the cutoff adds the engineering terms $2\rho$ and $ϵ\lambda$ to the running dimensionless couplings. Since $g=\lambda {\Lambda }^{ϵ}$ and $D=4-ϵ$, the remaining cutoff powers cancel exactly. ThereforeThese are the requested flows, to the stated one-loop order. They implement cutoff independence of long-wavelength observables after changing the couplings and retaining the generated constant and other effective operators to the relevant approximation order. They are not an exact closure of the complete effective action.

Besides the Gaussian fixed point, solve the nonzero-coupling fixed-point equations. The quartic equation gives ${\lambda }_{\ast }=2ϵ(1+{\rho }_{\ast }{)}^2/(3K_D)$. Substitute into the mass equation to get $2{\rho }_{\ast }+ϵ(1+{\rho }_{\ast })/3=0$, hence ${\rho }_{\ast }=-ϵ/(6+ϵ)$ within the displayed one-loop truncation. Since $K_4=2{\pi }^2/(2\pi {)}^4=1/(8{\pi }^2)$,These are the Wilson-Fisher fixed point coordinates in this cutoff scheme. The higher terms obtained by solving the truncated equations exactly should not be regarded as a full higher-order epsilon calculation.

The attraction claim in the PDF needs a thermal qualification. The stability matrix of a renormalization-group fixed point at this solution has entriesThe lower-left entry is $O({ϵ}^2)$, so its eigenvalues areIncreasing $\ell$ means approaching the infrared. The quartic scaling direction is attractive, but a perturbation in the thermal scaling direction grows as $e^{y_t\ell }$. Therefore the Wilson-Fisher fixed point is an infrared attractor on its tuned critical surface, not an attractive fixed point of the entire two-dimensional coupling plane. In the plane it is a saddle; an arbitrary small thermal perturbation is a concrete counterexample to unconditional attraction. This is the thermal relevant direction at the Wilson-Fisher fixed point.

For $ϵ>0$, the quartic interaction has a nonzero limiting value ${\lambda }_{\ast }=O(ϵ)$ instead of disappearing under coarse-graining. Long-wavelength thermal fluctuations are therefore interacting, so the fluctuation-free Landau approximation cannot give the generic critical powers. For example, its ordinary correlation-length critical exponent is $1/2$, whereas the relevant thermal eigenvalue just derived givesThe tadpole is momentum independent, so the anomalous dimension begins at $O({ϵ}^2)$. Combining this with the scaling relations yields $\gamma =1+ϵ/6+O({ϵ}^2)$, $\beta =1/2-ϵ/6+O({ϵ}^2)$, and $\alpha =ϵ/6+O({ϵ}^2)$, exhibiting the deviation from ordinary mean-field indices. These are controlled statements for small positive $ϵ$, not exact numerical exponents at arbitrary dimension. The Landau-Ginzburg theory itself is not invalid: integrating its fluctuations is precisely how the Wilson-Fisher fixed point was obtained. The invalid step is replacing that interacting long-distance theory by a uniform saddle and ignoring its fluctuation corrections.