Hidetoshi Nishimori and Gerardo Ortiz
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199577224
- eISBN:
- 9780191722943
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577224.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
Phase transitions and critical phenomena have consistently been among the principal subjects of active studies in statistical physics. The simple act of transforming one state of matter or phase into ...
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Phase transitions and critical phenomena have consistently been among the principal subjects of active studies in statistical physics. The simple act of transforming one state of matter or phase into another, for instance by changing the temperature, has always captivated the curious mind. This book provides an introductory account on the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena, a subject now recognized to be indispensable for students and researchers from many fields of physics and related disciplines. The first five chapters are very basic and quintessential, and cover standard topics such as mean-field theories, the renormalization group and scaling, universality, and statistical field theory methods. The remaining chapters develop more advanced concepts, including conformal field theory, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the effects of randomness, percolation, exactly solvable models, series expansions, duality transformations, and numerical techniques. Moreover, a comprehensive series of appendices expand and clarify several issues not developed in the main text. The important role played by symmetry and topology in understanding the competition between phases and the resulting emergent collective behaviour, giving rise to rigidity and soft elementary excitations, is stressed throughout the book. Serious attempts have been directed toward a self-contained modular approach so that the reader does not have to refer to other sources for supplementary information. Accordingly, most of the concepts and calculations are described in detail, sometimes with additional/auxiliary descriptions given in appendices and exercises. The latter are presented as the topics develop with solutions found at the end of the book, thus giving the text a self-learning character.Less
Phase transitions and critical phenomena have consistently been among the principal subjects of active studies in statistical physics. The simple act of transforming one state of matter or phase into another, for instance by changing the temperature, has always captivated the curious mind. This book provides an introductory account on the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena, a subject now recognized to be indispensable for students and researchers from many fields of physics and related disciplines. The first five chapters are very basic and quintessential, and cover standard topics such as mean-field theories, the renormalization group and scaling, universality, and statistical field theory methods. The remaining chapters develop more advanced concepts, including conformal field theory, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the effects of randomness, percolation, exactly solvable models, series expansions, duality transformations, and numerical techniques. Moreover, a comprehensive series of appendices expand and clarify several issues not developed in the main text. The important role played by symmetry and topology in understanding the competition between phases and the resulting emergent collective behaviour, giving rise to rigidity and soft elementary excitations, is stressed throughout the book. Serious attempts have been directed toward a self-contained modular approach so that the reader does not have to refer to other sources for supplementary information. Accordingly, most of the concepts and calculations are described in detail, sometimes with additional/auxiliary descriptions given in appendices and exercises. The latter are presented as the topics develop with solutions found at the end of the book, thus giving the text a self-learning character.
Jean Zinn-Justin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199227198
- eISBN:
- 9780191711107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227198.003.0009
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This chapter introduces the general concept of renormalization group in the spirit of the work. It studies the role of fixed points and their stability properties. It exhibits a particular fixed ...
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This chapter introduces the general concept of renormalization group in the spirit of the work. It studies the role of fixed points and their stability properties. It exhibits a particular fixed point, the Gaussian fixed point, which is stable in dimension larger than four. It identifies the leading perturbation to the Gaussian fixed point in dimension = four. It discusses the possible existence of a non-Gaussian fixed point near dimension four.Less
This chapter introduces the general concept of renormalization group in the spirit of the work. It studies the role of fixed points and their stability properties. It exhibits a particular fixed point, the Gaussian fixed point, which is stable in dimension larger than four. It identifies the leading perturbation to the Gaussian fixed point in dimension = four. It discusses the possible existence of a non-Gaussian fixed point near dimension four.
Jean Zinn-Justin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199227198
- eISBN:
- 9780191711107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227198.003.0014
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This chapter studies a statistical field theory with an O(N) orthogonal symmetry and a (f2)2 interaction (denoted here by f = (f1, . . . , fN) the N-component field rather than s, in contrast with ...
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This chapter studies a statistical field theory with an O(N) orthogonal symmetry and a (f2)2 interaction (denoted here by f = (f1, . . . , fN) the N-component field rather than s, in contrast with previous chapters), at fixed dimension, in the framework of another approximation scheme, the N approaching the 8 limit. The results confirm the universal properties derived in the framework of the formal e-expansion.Less
This chapter studies a statistical field theory with an O(N) orthogonal symmetry and a (f2)2 interaction (denoted here by f = (f1, . . . , fN) the N-component field rather than s, in contrast with previous chapters), at fixed dimension, in the framework of another approximation scheme, the N approaching the 8 limit. The results confirm the universal properties derived in the framework of the formal e-expansion.
Giuseppe Mussardo
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198788102
- eISBN:
- 9780191830082
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198788102.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This book is an introduction to statistical field theory, which is an important subject within theoretical physics and a field that has seen substantial progress in recent years. The book covers ...
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This book is an introduction to statistical field theory, which is an important subject within theoretical physics and a field that has seen substantial progress in recent years. The book covers fundamental topics in great detail and includes areas like conformal field theory, quantum integrability, S-matrices, braiding groups, Bethe ansatz, renormalization groups, Majorana fermions, form factors, the truncated conformal space approach and boundary field theory. It also provides an introduction to lattice statistical models. Many topics are discussed at a fairly advanced level but via a pedagogical approach. In particular, the book presents in a clear way non-perturbative methods of quantum field theories that have become decisive tools in many different areas of statistical and condensed matter physics, and which are currently an essential foundation of the working knowledge of a modern theoretical physicist.Less
This book is an introduction to statistical field theory, which is an important subject within theoretical physics and a field that has seen substantial progress in recent years. The book covers fundamental topics in great detail and includes areas like conformal field theory, quantum integrability, S-matrices, braiding groups, Bethe ansatz, renormalization groups, Majorana fermions, form factors, the truncated conformal space approach and boundary field theory. It also provides an introduction to lattice statistical models. Many topics are discussed at a fairly advanced level but via a pedagogical approach. In particular, the book presents in a clear way non-perturbative methods of quantum field theories that have become decisive tools in many different areas of statistical and condensed matter physics, and which are currently an essential foundation of the working knowledge of a modern theoretical physicist.
Tom Lancaster and Stephen J. Blundell
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199699322
- eISBN:
- 9780191779435
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199699322.003.0026
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
There is a rather subtle connection between quantum field theory and statistical physics, and this is explored here, where the concepts of imaginary time and the Wick rotation are introduced.
There is a rather subtle connection between quantum field theory and statistical physics, and this is explored here, where the concepts of imaginary time and the Wick rotation are introduced.