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The bare mass is the mass parameter in a regulated field-theory action before a renormalization condition relates it to a measured mass. For a scalar, loop self-energy corrections change the propagator denominator to $p^2-m_0^2-\Sigma (p^2)$. The pole mass solves $m^2-m_0^2-\Sigma (m^2)=0$ for a stable particle. The bare mass generally depends on the regulator when the pole mass is held fixed.

Changing the ultraviolet cutoff changes which fluctuations remain explicit. Integrating out a shell of Fourier modes shifts the coefficients of all symmetry-allowed operators and a field-independent constant. Hence the cutoff-dependent coefficients are chosen so that the remaining partition function and long-distance observables reproduce the same microscopic system. This is the Wilsonian coarse-grained statistical Hamiltonian; retaining only the printed operators is a local derivative expansion, not an exact closure.

In a massive symmetric phase, the quadratic long-wavelength inverse two-point function has the form ${\alpha }^{-1}{p}^2+m^2$. Its Landau scalar correlation length satisfies ${\xi }^{-2}=\alpha m^2$ in this approximation. For canonical normalization of a scalar gradient term, set $\varphi =\sqrt{\alpha }\psi$; then the mass and quartic coefficients become $r=\alpha m^2$ and $g_c={\alpha }^{2}g$. With this normalization the infrared mass is the inverse correlation length, $m_R={\xi }^{-1}$, within the massive quadratic or one-loop approximation. More generally the decay rate is a pole mass, whereas the zero-momentum inverse magnetic susceptibility is a curvature mass; an anomalous dimension or nontrivial momentum dependence can distinguish them. In the ordered phase one must first expand about a selected stable equilibrium magnetization, rather than identify a negative quadratic coefficient at the unstable origin with a squared inverse correlation length. Thus the intended mass identification includes a field normalization and a stable-phase qualification.

For momentum-shell renormalization group, split $\varphi ={\varphi }_{<}+{\varphi }_{>}$, retaining $|p|<\Lambda /b$ and eliminating $\Lambda /b<|p|<\Lambda$. DefineTaking a logarithm gives the cumulant expansion of a coarse-grained free energy. For a centered fast Gaussian measure with $G_{>}(0)=⟨{\varphi }_{>}^2⟩$, the first quartic cumulant isThe Wick contractions give a mass shift $\Delta r=g{G}_{>}(0)/2$ and an identity-operator contribution, while leaving the quartic term at this order. The second cumulant produces higher interactions and a quartic correction. After the length and field rescalings $x=b{x}^{\prime }$ and ${\varphi }_{<}(x)=b^{-(D-2)/2}{\varphi }^{\prime }(x^{\prime })$, the gradient coefficient remains one, andThe one-loop shell mass renormalization in scalar quartic theory explicitly shows why the critical bare mass is shifted by fluctuations.

Assume short-range interactions, an analytic even local potential, a positive gradient coefficient, and a weak-coupling trajectory in the basin of the Gaussian fixed point. Above four dimensions the quartic interaction has negative engineering dimension and its dimensionless strength decreases under coarse graining; higher local powers and higher derivative terms also decrease. After absorbing analytic short-distance shifts into the coefficients, long-wavelength fluctuations are small compared with the ordered order parameter. The remaining coarse Landau free energy can therefore be evaluated at its stable saddle:The quartic stabilizer must still be retained for the ordered minimum even though it is dangerously irrelevant. Stationarity, $r_{R}M+g_R{M}^3/6=h$, gives the ordinary Landau-Ginzburg theory and its mean-field critical exponents. This derives the saddle approximation from decreasing fluctuation strength under the stated RG assumptions; it does not assume that every exact coarse-grained functional becomes a quartic polynomial. Below four dimensions the quartic coupling grows, long-wavelength loop corrections cease to be small, and the argument fails. At four dimensions the interaction is marginal and generates logarithmic corrections. The tuned sextic theory has the analogous boundary at three dimensions.

Use a consistent Fourier transform pair for the connected correlation function:The printed forward-transform expression integrates over $p$ while leaving $x$ free; that integration variable is an error. The above convention resolves it and produces the loop measure used below. At zero magnetization, $G_c(x)=⟨\varphi (0)\varphi (x)⟩$; otherwise the disconnected product of expectations must be subtracted.

In the inverse-propagator identity used here, the truncated two-point function means the full one-particle-irreducible two-point vertex, including its free quadratic part. This convention differs from using “truncated” for a connected cumulant. To derive the inverse relation, introduce $W[J]=\log Z[J]$, $\phi =\delta W/\delta J$ and the effective action $\Gamma [\phi ]=\int J\phi -W[J]$. Then $\delta \Gamma /\delta \phi =J$ and the chain rule gives ${\Gamma }^{(2)}{W}^{(2)}=1$. Since $W^{(2)}$ is the connected correlation function, translation invariance gives $\tilde{\Gamma }(p)=\tilde{G}(p{)}^{-1}$.

Now use canonically normalized coefficients, denoting the cutoff mass by $m_b^2=m^2(\Lambda ,T)$ and the renormalized infrared mass by $m_R^2=m^2(0,T)$. Choose the free propagator ${\tilde{G}}_0(p)=(p^2+m_R^2{)}^{-1}$ and put $\delta m^2=m_b^2-m_R^2$ in the interaction as a quadratic counterterm. With the Euclidean self-energy convention in which an insertion changes the connected propagator by $-G_0\Sigma G_0$, the perturbative series beginsThe self-energy sums one-particle-irreducible loop insertions; the explicit mass counterterm is kept separate. Repeated insertions generate the geometric Dyson resummation, which explains why reducible chains occur in $G$ but not as independent terms in its inverse. Beyond one loop a momentum-dependent self-energy and wave-function renormalization must also be included.

At one loop the only quartic two-point graph is the tadpole diagram. At a $g{\varphi }^4/4!$ vertex, attaching the two labeled external fields uses $4\cdot 3=12$ choices and contracts the remaining two fields together. The factor is $12/4!=1/2$. Equivalently this is the same quadratic term in the shell cumulant expansion above. ThusIt is positive for $g>0$ and independent of external momentum, so there is no one-loop gradient renormalization. The condition $\tilde{\Gamma }(0)=m_R^2$ implies $\delta m^2+\Sigma (0)=0$, henceThe cutoff is necessary: the unregulated integral is ultraviolet divergent for $D\ge 2$. Using the renormalized mass internally is a self-consistent one-loop organization, not an exact resummation of all critical fluctuations. With nonunit $\alpha$, this formula instead applies to $r=\alpha m^2$, $g_c={\alpha }^{2}g$ after canonical normalization of a scalar gradient term.

To test a linear thermal mass, approach the ordinary transition from the symmetric side and set $R=m_R^2>0$. For $D>2$ the massless tadpole is infrared finite. Subtract its critical value, absorb regular temperature dependence of the coupling into a nonzero thermal coefficient $A$, and write $m_b^2(T)-m_b^2(T_C)=A(T-T_C)+\cdots$. The one-loop critical-mass subtraction giveswhereFor $D>4$, $J_D(0)=c_D{\Lambda }^{D-4}/(D-4)$ is finite, so the bracket tends to a finite constant and $R\propto T-T_C$ is self-consistent. At $D=4$,and the growing logarithm obstructs an asymptotically constant linear coefficient at nonzero coupling. For $2<D<4$, put $k=\sqrt{R}q$ to obtainThe divergent bracket then invalidates the assumed linear thermal mass. The radial critical-mass subtraction in dimensions three to five gives explicit checks of all three behaviors. For $D\le 2$, the massless tadpole subtraction itself is infrared divergent; that failure of the Gaussian expansion does not prove absence of an interacting transition. Therefore the ordinary upper critical dimension is $D_C=4$, with the unmodified Landau-Ginzburg theory asymptotically justified by this test only for $D>4$. Exponents inferred by solving the self-consistent one-loop equation below four dimensions would not be exact interacting exponents.

For a tricritical point the renormalized quartic coefficient must be tuned to zero, and a positive sextic interaction stabilizes the order parameter. The gradient term gives the scalar field engineering dimension $(D-2)/2$. A coefficient of ${\varphi }^6$ therefore has dimension $D-6(D-2)/2=6-2D$, which becomes marginal at $D=3$. This gives $D_C^{\mathrm{tri}}=3$. A direct Ginzburg criterion reaches the same result: long-wavelength variance in a correlation volume iswhile the tricritical saddle has $M^2\sim |r{|}^{1/2}$. Their ratio scales as $|r{|}^{(D-3)/2}$, vanishing only above three dimensions. At three dimensions it is marginal; below three it grows. In contrast the ordinary saddle $M^2\sim |r|/g$ gives a ratio $g|r{|}^{(D-4)/2}$. Both calculations assume the thermal mass is measured relative to its shifted critical value. A sextic interaction generates quartic terms under coarse graining, so tricriticality requires tuning the renormalized quartic scaling field as well as the mass.

Fix the sign convention by taking the proper two-point insertion to be $i\Sigma (/p)$. This convention matches the loop expression and mass conversion printed later. Dyson resummation of successive fermion self-energy insertions givesThe subscript denotes the renormalized self-energy. If the insertion is instead named $-i{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{usual}}$, then ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{usual}}=-{\Sigma }_R$ and the denominator is written $/p-m-{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{usual}}$. These are the same physical convention.

Lorentz covariance allows ${\Sigma }_R=\mathcal{A}(p^2)/p+\mathcal{B}(p^2)m$. The physical mass-shell condition isIt locates the mass-shell singularity of the Dirac propagator. In infrared-regulated perturbation theory this is the pole mass; near a simple pole the quantum field theory propagator has the form $i{Z}_{\mathrm{pole}}(/p+m_{\mathrm{phys}})/(p^2-m_{\mathrm{phys}}^2+i0)$. The mass and pole residue are different quantities: the former fixes the singularity's location, the latter the field normalization. The calculation below uses this standard perturbative pole-mass definition.

An on-shell renormalization scheme fixes the mass parameter at the physical pole mass and fixes the renormalized field by the chosen pole residue. Its counterterms include finite contributions needed to enforce those conditions. A coupling is likewise defined by a specified physical amplitude or mass-shell condition.

The minimal subtraction scheme removes only poles in the dimensional regulator. The modified minimal subtraction scheme, which is the overbarred scheme in the PDF, removes the accompanying universal combination $\log 4\pi -{\gamma }_E$ as well. In $D=4-ϵ$, the one-loop subtraction is proportional toA subtraction-scheme mass is a running parameter and generally differs from the physical mass. Finite redefinitions relate the schemes while leaving physical quantities unchanged. The overbar is essential for the stated finite formula in part (d).

After modified minimal subtraction, the surviving logarithm in the given fermion self-energy is $\log [{\mu }^2/((1-x)(m^2-p^{2}x))]$. For a one-loop mass shift, set $p^2=m^2$ and let $/p$ act as $m$ on an on-shell spinor inside that correction; changing these arguments by the mass shift contributes only at order $e^4$. ThusThe needed integrals areFor the second, put $u=1-x$ and use ${\int }_0^1\log udu=-1$ and ${\int }_0^{1}u\log udu=-1/4$. ConsequentlyThe pole mass condition $m_{\mathrm{phys}}-m+{\Sigma }_R=0$ gives $m_{\mathrm{phys}}=m[1+e^2(5+3\log ({\mu }^2/m^2))/(16{\pi }^2)]+O(e^4)$. Invert this relation and replace $m$ by $m_{\mathrm{phys}}$ inside the already one-loop term to obtainThe negative sign in the running-mass conversion follows from the explicitly chosen self-energy convention. Subtracting poles alone, instead of the overbarred combination, would leave additional $\log 4\pi -{\gamma }_E$ terms.

Repeated insertions of the fermion self-energy form a geometric Dyson resummation:The physical fermion mass is the pole mass: after analytic continuation, $m_{\mathrm{phys}}$ is determined by the zero of the exact inverse propagator at $p^2=-m_{\mathrm{phys}}^2$. Ifthen to all orders the pole obeyswith the signs fixed by the displayed Dyson convention.

For incoming momenta, the Euclidean momentum-space Feynman rules are

The one-loop one-particle-irreducible diagrams with at most three external legs can be classified by their external species. There is a one-point $\chi$ tadpole diagram made from a $\varphi$ loop. There are two two-point bubble diagrams: the $\varphi$ self-energy has one internal $\varphi$ and one internal $\chi$, while the $\chi$ self-energy has two internal $\varphi$ lines and symmetry factor $1/2$. For three external legs, three vertices make a triangle: one triangle corrects the $\varphi \varphi \chi$ vertex and contains two internal $\varphi$ lines and one internal $\chi$ line; another has three external $\chi$ legs and a $\varphi$ loop, generating a ${\chi }^3$ interaction. The symmetry $\varphi \mapsto -\varphi$ forbids amplitudes with an odd number of external $\varphi$ legs. The classical $\varphi \varphi \chi$ vertex is the corresponding tree-level three-point diagram.

Adopt the self-energy conventionThis follows by summing the geometric series of exact propagators separated by amputated one-particle-irreducible two-point insertions. At one loop, after writing ${\lambda }_0={\mu }^{ϵ/2}\lambda +O({\lambda }^3)$,Introduce a Feynman parameter and shift the loop momentum. Withdimensional regularization givesUsing $\Gamma (-1+ϵ/2)=-2/ϵ+\gamma -1+O(ϵ)$ produceswhereand one convenient integral form of the finite part isChanging the definition of the dimensional-regularization scale only moves a finite constant between $C$ and the counterterm.

To make the two-point function finite, write ${\varphi }_0=Z_{\varphi }^{1/2}\varphi$, express $m_0^2$ in terms of a renormalized mass and a mass counterterm, and choose the pole parts of $\delta Z_{\varphi }$ and $\delta m^2$ to cancel $B{p}^2/ϵ$ and $A/ϵ$. In the minimal subtraction scheme no additional finite pieces are removed. The physical mass is the pole mass, so with the self-energy convention above it obeysThe explicit $\mu$ dependence of the finite self-energy cancels the running of $m(\mu )$, leaving $m_{\mathrm{phys}}$ independent of the renormalization scale.

The superficial degree of divergence counts the ultraviolet power before subdivergences and symmetry cancellations are considered. At $d=6$, a connected graph made from cubic vertices haswhere $E$ is its number of external legs. Hence one-, two-, and three-point functions can have quartic, quadratic, and logarithmic superficial divergences, whereas graphs with more external legs are superficially convergent.

Full renormalization also requires the $\chi$ mass and wave-function counterterms from its two-point function, a linear $\chi$ counterterm cancelling the tadpole, a coupling counterterm from the divergent $\varphi \varphi \chi$ triangle, and a ${\chi }^3$ counterterm from the three-$\chi$ triangle. A vacuum-energy counterterm removes divergent vacuum diagrams. These are precisely the local operators allowed by power counting in quantum field theory and the exact $\varphi \mapsto -\varphi$ symmetry.

In quantum electrodynamics, the modified minimal subtraction scheme running mass differs from the perturbative pole mass by a finite correction. The displayed relation follows by evaluating the renormalized fermion self-energy at the mass shell and imposing a zero of the inverse Dirac propagator. The sign assigned to the self-energy insertion must be matched to its denominator convention; changing that naming convention does not change the conversion. A wave-function coefficient counterterm and multiplicative mass renormalization are also distinct: the coefficient of the mass term includes both at first order.

With interaction $-{\lambda }_0{\varphi }^4/4!$, the tadpole diagram has symmetry factor one half. After Wick rotation and a rotationally invariant Euclidean cutoff, its self-energy is $({\lambda }_0/2){\int }_{|k|<\Lambda }{d}^{4}k(2\pi {)}^{-4}(k^2+m_0^2{)}^{-1}$. The sphere area $2{\pi }^2$ and radial integral ${\int }_0^{\Lambda }{k}^{3}dk/(k^2+m_0^2)=\frac{1}{2}[{\Lambda }^2-m_0^2\log (1+{\Lambda }^2/m_0^2)]$ give the displayed shift. It is independent of external momentum, so no one-loop momentum-dependent wave-function renormalization arises from this graph. Different regulator schemes can treat power divergences differently while defining the same chosen pole mass.