Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 49 1 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A critical exponent specifies a leading singular power in a response or order parameter as the thermodynamic critical point is approached. Analytic backgrounds and the selected thermodynamic branch must be distinguished from that singular part. Write , , and first take . The equation of state is .
At zero field on the ordered branch, , giving the order-parameter critical exponent . Differentiating the equation of state gives : above the transition , below it , so the magnetic-susceptibility critical exponent is . At , , giving the critical-isotherm exponent .
The minimized singular free-energy density is above and below. Two temperature derivatives produce a finite specific-heat jump, corresponding to the heat-capacity critical exponent . The inverse quadratic fluctuation kernel is , so gives ; the critical propagator proportional to gives . ThusThese mean-field critical exponents follow from minimization and linear response. More generally, linearize the renormalization group and differentiate its singular free-energy scaling form to obtain the actual fluctuation-controlled exponents.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 49 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
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
. 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.
