Comparison of renormalization group schemes for sine-Gordon-type models

Abstract

The scheme dependence of the renormalization group (RG) flow has been investigated in the local potential approximation for two-dimensional periodic, sine-Gordon type field-theoretic models discussing the applicability of various functional RG methods in detail. It was shown that scheme-independent determination of such physical parameters is possible as the critical frequency (temperature) at which Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii type phase transition takes place in the sine-Gordon and the layered sine-Gordon models, and the critical ratio characterizing the Ising-type phase transition of the massive sine-Gordon model. For the latter case, the Maxwell construction represents a strong constraint on the RG flow, which results in a scheme-independent infrared value for the critical ratio. For the massive sine-Gordon model also the shrinking of the domain of the phase with spontaneously broken periodicity is shown to take place due to the quantum fluctuations.