In the scalar-field source Legendre transform, differentiating with respect to the source and using yields this inverse-kernel relation. For a scalar quartic Landau-Ginzburg theory, , so the connected response is the Green kernel of that operator. A one-momentum representation requires a translationally invariant background.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 303 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The statistical Hamiltonian in this question is already in thermal units, as indicated by without an additional . Define and . The mean field and its linear response areThese are functional derivatives of the connected generating functional; the subtraction defines the connected correlation function. In the Landau approximation, neglect loop corrections and evaluate the field integral at a stable saddle . It satisfies the Euler-Lagrange equationThis follows by varying the gradient term and integrating by parts, with periodic, decaying, or otherwise appropriate boundary conditions.
The two requested free energy functionals, following the source and Legendre conventions of the question, areIn the scalar-field source Legendre transform on the chosen stable branch, is chosen to produce , and . Thus the imposed-source Helmholtz free energy and the fixed-order-parameter Gibbs free energy have the appropriate opposite source derivatives. These names are used in the question's magnetic-ensemble convention; the defining sign relation is what fixes the calculation. At leading Landau approximation there is no fluctuation-determinant term in .
Differentiate the saddle equation with respect to . The response obeysThereforeEquivalently, the inverse Hessian relation for a connected two-point function states that is the inverse kernel of . The factor follows from twice differentiating the quartic term ; it is not . This tree-level connected response is obtained by varying the saddle. It does not require replacing the exact connected correlator by a product of the saddle values, which would incorrectly give zero.
For the requested single-momentum formula, assume a homogeneous source and a translationally invariant equilibrium phase, so and . SetThe Fourier transform with the printed positive sign sends to , while the Dirac delta function transforms to one. Hence the Ornstein--Zernike correlation function hasThe inverse convention is . For general inhomogeneous , has nonconstant coefficients and depends separately on its two positions; the displayed momentum-diagonal formula then does not follow. The preceding differential equation still holds in that case.
At zero source and for , the homogeneous saddle is for , and on either selected stable ordered branch for . Thus the Landau scalar correlation length isIn the ordered phase the negative bare quadratic coefficient is compensated by the positive curvature at the nonzero saddle. Retaining below the transition would instead give an unstable kernel and is not a physical correlation length. With the usual analytic thermal tuning , , both branches diverge as , so the correlation-length critical exponent isThe high-temperature amplitude is times the low-temperature amplitude for the same . This statement is within Landau theory; fluctuations can change critical behavior outside the mean-field regime.