We develop a reformulation of the functional integral for bosons in terms of bilocal fields. Correlation functions correspond to quantum probabilities instead of probability amplitudes. Discrete and continuous global symmetries can be treated similar
to the usual formalism. Situations where the formalism can be interpreted in terms of a statistical field theory in Minkowski space are characterized by violations of unitarity at very large momentum scales. Renormalization group equations suggest that unitarity can be essentially restored by strong fluctuation effects.
We develop a formalism to describe the formation of bound states in quantum field theory using an exact renormalization group flow equation. As a concrete example we investigate a nonrelativistic field theory with instantaneous interaction where the
flow equations can be solved exactly. However, the formalism is more general and can be applied to relativistic field theories, as well. We also discuss expansion schemes that can be used to find approximate solutions of the flow equations including the essential momentum dependence.
We investigate the phase diagram of two-component fermions in the BCS-BEC crossover. Using functional renormalization group equations we calculate the effect of quantum fluctuations on the fermionic self-energy parametrized by a wavefunction renormal
ization, an effective Fermi radius and the gap. This allows us to follow the modifications of the Fermi surface and the dispersion relation for fermionic excitations throughout the whole crossover region. We also determine the critical temperature of the second order phase transition to superfluidity. Our results are in agreement with BCS theory including Gorkovs correction for small negative scattering length a and with an interacting Bose gas for small positive a. At the unitarity point the result for the gap at zero temperature agrees well with Quantum-Monte-Carlo simulations while the critical temperature differs.
The method of functional renormalization is applied to the theoretical investigation of ultracold quantum gases. Flow equations are derived for a Bose gas with approximately pointlike interaction, for a Fermi gas with two (hyperfine) spin components
in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover and for a Fermi gas with three components. The solution of the flow equations determine the properties of these systems both in the few-body regime and in thermal equilibrium. For the Bose gas this covers the quantum phase diagram, the condensate and superfluid fraction, the critical temperature, the correlation length, the specific heat or sound propagation. The properties are discussed both for three and two spatial dimensions. The discussion of the Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover concentrates on the effect of particle-hole fluctuations but addresses the complete phase diagram. For the three component fermions, the flow equations in the few-body regime show a limit-cycle scaling and the Efimov tower of three-body bound states. Applied to the case of Lithium they explain recently observed three-body loss features. Extending the calculations by continuity to nonzero density, it is found that a new trion phase separates a BCS and a BEC phase for three component fermions close to a common resonance. More formal is the derivation of a new exact flow equation for scale dependent composite operators. This equation allows for example a better treatment of bound states.
The phase transition to superfluidity and the BCS-BEC crossover for an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms is discussed within a functional renormalization group approach. Non-perturbative flow equations, based on an exact renormalization group equation
, describe the scale dependence of the flowing or average action. They interpolate continuously from the microphysics at atomic or molecular distance scales to the macroscopic physics at much larger length scales, as given by the interparticle distance, the correlation length, or the size of the experimental probe. We discuss the phase diagram as a function of the scattering length and the temperature and compute the gap, the correlation length and the scattering length for molecules. Close to the critical temperature, we find the expected universal behavior. Our approach allows for a description of the few-body physics (scattering and molecular binding) and the many-body physics within the same formalism.
We propose an exact flow equation for composite operators and their correlation functions. This can be used for a scale-dependent partial bosonization or flowing bosonization of fermionic interactions, or for an effective change of degrees of freedom
in dependence on the momentum scale. The flow keeps track of the scale dependent relation between effective composite fields and corresponding composite operators in terms of the fundamental fields.
The effect of particle-hole fluctuations for the BCS-BEC crossover is investigated by use of functional renormalization. We compute the critical temperature for the whole range in the scattering length $a$. On the BCS side for small negative $a$ we r
ecover the Gorkov approximation, while on the BEC side of small positive $a$ the particle-hole fluctuations play no important role, and we find a system of interacting bosons. In the unitarity limit of infinite scattering length our quantitative estimate yields $T_c/T_F=0.264$. We also investigate the crossover from broad to narrow Feshbach resonances -- for the later we obtain $T_c/T_F=0.204$ for $a^{-1}=0$. A key ingredient for our treatment is the computation of the momentum dependent four-fermion vertex and its bosonization in terms of an effective bound-state exchange.
