Nonperturbative Functional Renormalization Group Research Articles

Tan's Two-Body Contact in a Planar Bose Gas: Experiment versus Theory.

We determine the two-body contact in a planar Bose gas confined by a transverse harmonic potential, using the nonperturbative functional renormalization group. We use the three-dimensional thermodynamic definition of the contact where the latter is related to the derivation of the pressure of the quasi-two-dimensional system with respect to the three-dimensional scattering length of the bosons. Without any free parameter, we find a remarkable agreement with the experimental data of Zou etal. [Tan's two-body contact across the superfluid transition of a planar Bose gas, Nat. Commun. 12, 760 (2021).NCAOBW2041-172310.1038/s41467-020-20647-6] from low to high temperatures, including the vicinity of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We also show that the short-distance behavior of the pair distribution function and the high-momentum behavior of the momentum distribution are determined by two contacts: the three-dimensional contact for length scales smaller than the characteristic length ℓ_{z}=sqrt[ℏ/mω_{z}] of the harmonic potential and, for length scales larger than ℓ_{z}, an effective two-dimensional contact, related to the three-dimensional one by a geometric factor depending on ℓ_{z}.

Operator product expansion coefficients from the nonperturbative functional renormalization group

Using the nonperturbative functional renormalization group (FRG) within the Blaizot-M\'endez-Galain-Wschebor approximation, we compute the operator product expansion (OPE) coefficient $c_{112}$ associated with the operators $\mathcal{O}_1\sim\varphi$ and $\mathcal{O}_2\sim\varphi^2$ in the three-dimensional $\mathrm{O}(N)$ universality class and in the Ising universality class ($N=1$) in dimensions $2 \leq d \leq 4$. When available, exact results and estimates from the conformal bootstrap and Monte-Carlo simulations compare extremely well to our results, while FRG is able to provide values across the whole range of $d$ and $N$ considered.

Physical properties of the massive Schwinger model from the nonperturbative functional renormalization group

We investigate the massive Schwinger model in $d=1+1$ dimensions using bosonization and the nonperturbative functional renormalization group. In agreement with previous studies we find that the phase transition, driven by a change of the ratio $m/e$ between the mass and the charge of the fermions, belongs to the two-dimensional Ising universality class. The temperature and vacuum angle dependence of various physical quantities (chiral density, electric field, entropy density) are also determined and agree with results obtained from density matrix renormalization group studies. Screening of fractional charges and deconfinement occur only at infinite temperature. Our results exemplify the possibility to obtain virtually all physical properties of an interacting system from the functional renormalization group.

No Ward-Takahashi identity violation for Abelian tensorial group field theories with a closure constraint

This paper aims at investigating the nonperturbative functional renormalization group for tensorial group field theories with nontrivial kinetic action and closure constraint. We consider the quartic melonic just-renormalizable $[U(1){]}^{6}$ model and show that due to this closure constraint the first order Ward-Takahashi identity takes the trivial form as for the models with propagators proportional to identity. We then construct the new version of the effective vertex expansion applicable to this class of models, which in particular allows us to close the hierarchical structure of the flow equations in the melonic sector. As a consequence, there are no additional constraints on the flow equations, and then we can focus on the existence of the physical Wilson-Fisher fixed-points in the symmetric phase.

Limit of vanishing regulator in the functional renormalization group

The nonperturbative functional renormalization group equation depends on the choice of a regulator function, whose main properties are a ``coarse-graining scale'' $k$ and an overall dimensionless amplitude $a$. In this paper we shall discuss the limit $a\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ with $k$ fixed. This limit is closely related to the pseudoregulator that reproduces the beta functions of the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ scheme that we studied in a previous paper. It is not suitable for precision calculations but it appears to be useful to eliminate the spurious breaking of symmetries by the regulator, both for nonlinear models and within the background field method.

Chaos in the Bose-glass phase of a one-dimensional disordered Bose fluid.

We show that the Bose-glass phase of a one-dimensional disordered Bose fluid exhibits a chaotic behavior, i.e., an extreme sensitivity to external parameters. Using bosonization, the replica formalism and the nonperturbative functional renormalization group, we find that the ground state is unstable to any modification of the disorder configuration ("disorder" chaos) or variation of the Luttinger parameter ("quantum" chaos, analog to the "temperature" chaos in classical disordered systems). This result is obtained by considering two copies of the system, with slightly different disorder configurations or Luttinger parameters, and showing that intercopy statistical correlations are suppressed at length scales larger than an overlap length ξ_{ov}∼|ε|^{-1/α} (|ε|≪1 is a measure of the difference between the disorder distributions or Luttinger parameters of the two copies). The chaos exponent α can be obtained by computing ξ_{ov} or by studying the instability of the Bose-glass fixed point for the two-copy system when ε≠0. The renormalized, functional, intercopy disorder correlator departs from its fixed-point value-characterized by "cuspy" singularities-via a chaos boundary layer, in the same way as it approaches the Bose-glass fixed point when ε=0 through a quantum boundary layer. Performing a linear analysis of perturbations about the Bose-glass fixed point, we find α=1.

On Multimatrix Models Motivated by Random Noncommutative Geometry I: The Functional Renormalization Group as a Flow in the Free Algebra

Random noncommutative geometry can be seen as a Euclidean path-integral quantization approach to the theory defined by the Spectral Action in noncommutative geometry (NCG). With the aim of investigating phase transitions in random NCG of arbitrary dimension, we study the nonperturbative Functional Renormalization Group for multimatrix models whose action consists of noncommutative polynomials in Hermitian and anti-Hermitian matrices. Such structure is dictated by the Spectral Action for the Dirac operator in Barrett’s spectral triple formulation of fuzzy spaces. The present mathematically rigorous treatment puts forward “coordinate-free” language that might be useful also elsewhere, all the more so because our approach holds for general multimatrix models. The toolkit is a noncommutative calculus on the free algebra that allows to describe the generator of the renormalization group flow—a noncommutative Laplacian introduced here—in terms of Voiculescu’s cyclic gradient and Rota–Sagan–Stein noncommutative derivative. We explore the algebraic structure of the Functional Renormalization Group equation and, as an application of this formalism, we find the beta -functions, identify the fixed points in the large-N limit and obtain the critical exponents of two-dimensional geometries in two different signatures.

Dimensional reduction breakdown and correction to scaling in the random-field Ising model.

We provide a theoretical analysis by means of the nonperturbative functional renormalization group (NP-FRG) of the corrections to scaling in the critical behavior of the random-field Ising model (RFIM) near the dimension d_{DR}≈5.1 that separates a region where the renormalized theory at the fixed point is supersymmetric and critical scaling satisfies the d→d-2 dimensional reduction property (d>d_{DR}) from a region where both supersymmetry and dimensional reduction break down at criticality (d<d_{DR}). We show that the NP-FRG results are in very good agreement with recent large-scale lattice simulations of the RFIM in d=5 and we detail the consequences for the leading correction-to-scaling exponent of the peculiar boundary-layer mechanism by which the dimensional-reduction fixed point disappears and the dimensional-reduction-broken fixed point emerges in d_{DR}.

Mott-Glass Phase of a One-Dimensional Quantum Fluid with Long-Range Interactions.

We investigate the ground-state properties of quantum particles interacting via a long-range repulsive potential V_{σ}(x)∼1/|x|^{1+σ} (-1<σ) or V_{σ}(x)∼-|x|^{-1-σ} (-2≤σ<-1) that interpolates between the Coulomb potential V_{0}(x) and the linearly confining potential V_{-2}(x) of the Schwinger model. In the absence of disorder the ground state is a Wigner crystal when σ≤0. Using bosonization and the nonperturbative functional renormalization group we show that any amount of disorder suppresses the Wigner crystallization when -3/2<σ≤0; the ground state is then a Mott glass, i.e., a state that has a vanishing compressibility and a gapless optical conductivity. For σ<-3/2 the ground state remains a Wigner crystal.

Is there a Mott-glass phase in a one-dimensional disordered quantum fluid with linearly confining interactions?

We study a one-dimensional disordered quantum fluid with linearly confining interactions (disordered Schwinger model) using bosonization and the nonperturbative functional renormalization group. We find that the long-range interactions make the Anderson-insulator (or, for bosons, the Bose-glass) fixed point (corresponding to a compressible state with a gapless optical conductivity) unstable, even if the latter may control the flow at intermediate energy scales. The stable fixed point describes an incompressible ground state with a gapped optical conductivity similar to a Mott insulator. These results disagree with the Gaussian variational method that predicts a Mott glass, namely a state with vanishing compressibility but a gapless optical conductivity.

Hybrid and quark star matter based on a nonperturbative equation of state

With the recent dawn of the multi-messenger astronomy era a new window has opened to explore the constituents of matter and their interactions under extreme conditions. One of the pending challenges of modern physics is to probe the microscopic equation of state (EoS) of cold and dense matter via macroscopic neutron star observations such as their masses and radii. Still unanswered issues concern the detailed composition of matter in the core of neutron stars at high pressure and the possible presence of e.g. hyperons or quarks. By means of a non-perturbative functional renormalization group approach the influence of quantum and density fluctuations on the quark matter EoS in $\beta$-equilibrium is investigated within two- and three-flavor quark-meson model truncations and compared to results obtained with common mean-field approximations where important fluctuations are usually ignored. We find that they strongly impact the quark matter EoS.

Neutron star matter as a relativistic Fermi liquid

The equation of state (EoS) of neutron star matter, constrained by the existence of two-solar-mass stars and gravitational wave signals from neutron star mergers, is analysed using the Landau theory of relativistic Fermi liquids. While the phase diagram of dense and cold QCD matter is still open for scenarios ranging from hadronic to quark matter in the center of neutron stars, a Fermi-liquid treatment is motivated by a microscopic approach starting from a chiral nucleon-meson field theory combined with nonperturbative functional renormalization group methods. In this scheme effects of multipionic fluctuations and repulsive nuclear many-body correlations suggest that the transition to chiral symmetry restoration is shifted to densities above those typically encountered in the neutron star core. Under such conditions a Fermi-liquid description in terms of nucleon quasiparticles appears to be justified. The leading Landau parameters are derived and discussed. Our results are contrasted with a well-known Fermi liquid, namely liquid $^3$He.

Benchmarking the nonperturbative functional renormalization group approach on the random elastic manifold model in and out of equilibrium

Criticality in the class of disordered systems comprising the random-field Ising model (RFIM) and elastic manifolds in a random environment is controlled by zero-temperature fixed points that must be treated through a functional renormalization group (RG). We apply the nonperturbative functional RG approach that we have previously used to describe the RFIM in and out of equilibrium (Balog et al 2018 Phys. Rev. B 97 094204) to the simpler and by now well-studied case of the random elastic manifold model. We recover the main known properties, critical exponents and scaling functions, of both the pinned phase of the manifold at equilibrium and the depinning threshold in the athermally and quasi-statically driven case for any dimension . This successful benchmarking of our theoretical approach gives strong support to the results that we have previously obtained for the RFIM, in particular concerning the distinct universality classes of the equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium (hysteresis) critical points below a critical dimension .

Critical O(2) field theory near six dimensions beyond one loop

A tensorial representation of $\phi^4$ field theory introduced in Phys. Rev. D. 93, 085005 (2016) is studied close to six dimensions, with an eye towards a possible realization of an interacting conformal field theory in five dimensions. We employ the two-loop $\epsilon$-expansion, two-loop fixed-dimension renormalization group, and non-perturbative functional renormalization group. An interacting, real, infrared-stable fixed point is found near six dimensions, and the corresponding anomalous dimensions are computed to the second order in small parameter $\epsilon=6-d$. Two-loop epsilon-expansion indicates, however, that the second-order corrections may destabilize the fixed point at some critical $\epsilon_c <1$. A more detailed analysis within all three computational schemes suggests that the interacting, infrared-stable fixed point found previously collides with another fixed point and becomes complex when the dimension is lowered from six towards five. Such a result would conform to the expectation of triviality of $O(2)$ field theories above four dimensions.

Criticality of the random field Ising model in and out of equilibrium: A nonperturbative functional renormalization group description

We show that, contrary to previous suggestions based on computer simulations or erroneous theoretical treatments, the critical points of the random-field Ising model out of equilibrium, when quasi-statically changing the applied source at zero temperature, and in equilibrium are not in the same universality class below some critical dimension $d_{DR}\approx 5.1$. We demonstrate this by implementing a non-perturbative functional renormalization group for the associated dynamical field theory. Above $d_{DR}$, the avalanches, which characterize the evolution of the system at zero temperature, become irrelevant at large distance, and hysteresis and equilibrium critical points are then controlled by the same fixed point. We explain how to use computer simulation and finite-size scaling to check the correspondence between in and out of equilibrium criticality in a far less ambiguous way than done so far.

A functional perspective on emergent supersymmetry

We investigate the emergence of mathcal{N} = 1 supersymmetry in the long-range behavior of three-dimensional parity-symmetric Yukawa systems. We discuss a renormalization approach that manifestly preserves supersymmetry whenever such symmetry is realized, and use it to prove that supersymmetry-breaking operators are irrelevant, thus proving that such operators are suppressed in the infrared. All our findings are illustrated with the aid of the ϵ-expansion and a functional variant of perturbation theory, but we provide numerical estimates of critical exponents that are based on the non-perturbative functional renormalization group.

Fluctuation-induced continuous transition and quantum criticality in Dirac semimetals

We establish a scenario where fluctuations of new degrees of freedom at a quantum phase transition change the nature of a transition beyond the standard Landau-Ginzburg paradigm. To this end we study the quantum phase transition of gapless Dirac fermions coupled to a $\mathbb{Z}_3$ symmetric order parameter within a Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model in 2+1 dimensions, appropriate for the Kekul\'e transition in honeycomb lattice materials. For this model the standard Landau-Ginzburg approach suggests a first order transition due to the symmetry-allowed cubic terms in the action. At zero temperature, however, quantum fluctuations of the massless Dirac fermions have to be included. We show that they reduce the putative first-order character of the transition and can even render it continuous, depending on the number of Dirac fermions $N_f$. A non-perturbative functional renormalization group approach is employed to investigate the phase transition for a wide range of fermion numbers. For the first time we obtain the critical $N_f$, where the nature of the transition changes. Furthermore, it is shown that for large $N_f$ the change from the first to second order of the transition as a function of dimension occurs exactly in the physical 2+1 dimensions. We compute the critical exponents and predict sizable corrections to scaling for $N_f =2$.

Fluctuation-induced modifications of the phase structure in ( 2+1 )-flavor QCD

The low-energy sector of QCD with $N_f = 2\!+\!1$ dynamical quark flavors at non-vanishing chemical potential and temperature is studied with a non-perturbative functional renormalization group method. The analysis is performed in different truncations in order to explore fluctuation-induced modifications of the quark-meson correlations as well as quark and meson propagators on the chiral phase transition of QCD. Depending on the chosen truncation significant quantitative implications on the phase transition are found. In the chirally symmetric phase, the quark flavor composition of the pseudoscalar $(\eta,\eta^{\prime})$-meson complex turns out to be drastically sensitive to fluctuation-induced modifications in the presence of the axial $U(1)_A$ anomaly. This has important phenomenological consequences for the assignment of chiral partners to these mesons.

Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation with short-range correlated noise: Emergent symmetries and nonuniversal observables.

We investigate the stationary-state fluctuations of a growing one-dimensional interface described by the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) dynamics with a noise featuring smooth spatial correlations of characteristic range ξ. We employ nonperturbative functional renormalization group methods to resolve the properties of the system at all scales. We show that the physics of the standard (uncorrelated) KPZ equation emerges on large scales independently of ξ. Moreover, the renormalization group flow is followed from the initial condition to the fixed point, that is, from the microscopic dynamics to the large-distance properties. This provides access to the small-scale features (and their dependence on the details of the noise correlations) as well as to the universal large-scale physics. In particular, we compute the kinetic energy spectrum of the stationary state as well as its nonuniversal amplitude. The latter is experimentally accessible by measurements at large scales and retains a signature of the microscopic noise correlations. Our results are compared to previous analytical and numerical results from independent approaches. They are in agreement with direct numerical simulations for the kinetic energy spectrum as well as with the prediction, obtained with the replica trick by Gaussian variational method, of a crossover in ξ of the nonuniversal amplitude of this spectrum.

In-medium spectral functions of vector- and axial-vector mesons from the functional renormalization group

In this work we present first results on vector and axial-vector meson spectral functions as obtained by applying the non-perturbative functional renormalization group approach to an effective low-energy theory motivated by the gauged linear sigma model. By using a recently proposed analytic continuation method, we study the in-medium behavior of the spectral functions of the $\rho$ and $a_1$ mesons in different regimes of the phase diagram. In particular, we demonstrate explicitly how these spectral functions degenerate at high temperatures as well as at large chemical potentials, as a consequence of the restoration of chiral symmetry. In addition, we also compute the momentum dependence of the $\rho$ and $a_1$ spectral functions and discuss the various time-like and space-like processes that can occur.