We introduce a systematic approach for the resummation of perturbative series which involve large logarithms not only due to large invariant mass ratios but large rapidities as well. Series of this form can appear in a variety of gauge theory observables. The formalism is utilized to calculate the jet broadening event shape in a systematic fashion to next to leading logarithmic order. An operator definition of the factorized cross section as well as a closed form of the next-to leading log cross section are presented. The result agrees with the data to within errors.
We present results for in-medium spectral functions obtained within the Functional Renormalization Group framework. The analytic continuation from imaginary to real time is performed in a well-defined way on the level of the flow equations. Based on this recently developed method, results for the sigma and the pion spectral function for the quark-meson model are shown at finite temperature, finite quark-chemical potential and finite spatial momentum. It is shown how these spectral function become degenreate at high temperatures due to the restoration of chiral symmetry. In addition, results for vector- and axial-vector meson spectral functions are shown using a gauged linear sigma model with quarks. The degeneration of the $rho$ and the $a_1$ spectral function as well as the behavior of their pole masses is discussed.
We employ the functional renormalization group approach formulated on the Schwinger-Keldysh contour to calculate real-time correlation functions in scalar field theories. We provide a detailed description of the formalism, discuss suitable truncation schemes for real-time calculations as well as the numerical procedure to self-consistently solve the flow equations for the spectral function. Subsequently, we discuss the relations to other perturbative and non-perturbative approaches to calculate spectral functions, and present a detailed comparison and benchmark in $d=0+1$ dimensions.
These notes provide a concise introduction to important applications of the renormalization group (RG) in statistical physics. After reviewing the scaling approach and Ginzburg-Landau theory for critical phenomena, Wilsons momentum shell RG method is presented, and the critical exponents for the scalar Phi^4 model are determined to first order in an eps expansion about d_c = 4. Subsequently, the technically more versatile field-theoretic formulation of the perturbational RG for static critical phenomena is described. It is explained how the emergence of scale invariance connects UV divergences to IR singularities, and the RG equation is employed to compute the critical exponents for the O(n)-symmetric Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson theory. The second part is devoted to field theory representations of non-linear stochastic dynamical systems, and the application of RG tools to critical dynamics. Dynamic critical phenomena in systems near equilibrium are efficiently captured through Langevin equations, and their mapping onto the Janssen-De Dominicis response functional, exemplified by the purely relaxational models with non-conserved (model A) / conserved order parameter (model B). The Langevin description and scaling exponents for isotropic ferromagnets (model J) and for driven diffusive non-equilibrium systems are also discussed. Finally, an outlook is presented to scale-invariant phenomena and non-equilibrium phase transitions in interacting particle systems. It is shown how the stochastic master equation associated with chemical reactions or population dynamics models can be mapped onto imaginary-time, non-Hermitian `quantum mechanics. In the continuum limit, this Doi-Peliti Hamiltonian is represented through a coherent-state path integral, which allows an RG analysis of diffusion-limited annihilation processes and phase transitions from active to inactive, absorbing states.
We summarize results for local and global properties of the effective potential for the Higgs boson obtained from the functional renormalization group, which allows to describe the effective potential as a function of both scalar field amplitude and RG scale. This sheds light onto the limitations of standard estimates which rely on the identification of the two scales and helps clarifying the origin of a possible property of meta-stability of the Higgs potential. We demonstrate that the inclusion of higher-dimensional operators induced by an underlying theory at a high scale (GUT or Planck scale) can relax the conventional lower bound on the Higgs mass derived from the criterion of absolute stability.
A valid prediction for a physical observable from quantum field theory should be independent of the choice of renormalization scheme -- this is the primary requirement of renormalization group invariance (RGI). Satisfying scheme invariance is a challenging problem for perturbative QCD (pQCD), since a truncated perturbation series does not automatically satisfy the requirements of the renormalization group. Two distinct approaches for satisfying the RGI principle have been suggested in the literature. One is the Principle of Maximum Conformality (PMC) in which the terms associated with the $beta$-function are absorbed into the scale of the running coupling at each perturbative order; its predictions are scheme and scale independent at every finite order. The other approach is the Principle of Minimum Sensitivity (PMS), which is based on local RGI; the PMS approach determines the optimal renormalization scale by requiring the slope of the approximant of an observable to vanish. In this paper, we present a detailed comparison of the PMC and PMS procedures by analyzing two physical observables $R_{e+e-}$ and $Gamma(Hto bbar{b})$ up to four-loop order in pQCD. At the four-loop level, the PMC and PMS predictions for both observables agree within small errors with those of conventional scale setting assuming a physically-motivated scale, and each prediction shows small scale dependences. However, the convergence of the pQCD series at high orders, behaves quite differently: The PMC displays the best pQCD convergence since it eliminates divergent renormalon terms; in contrast, the convergence of the PMS prediction is questionable, often even worse than the conventional prediction based on an arbitrary guess for the renormalization scale. ......