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Classical Scaling Dimension
In theoretical physics, the scaling dimension, or simply dimension, of a local operator in a quantum field theory characterizes the rescaling properties of the operator under spacetime Dilation (affine geometry), dilations x\to \lambda x. If the quantum field theory is Scale invariance, scale invariant, scaling dimensions of operators are fixed numbers, otherwise they are functions of the distance scale. Scale-invariant quantum field theory In a Scale invariance, scale invariant quantum field theory, by definition each operator O acquires under a dilation x\to \lambda x a factor \lambda^, where \Delta is a number called the scaling dimension of O. This implies in particular that the two point correlation function \langle O(x) O(0)\rangle depends on the distance as (x^2)^. More generally, correlation functions of several local operators must depend on the distances in such a way that \langle O_1(\lambda x_1) O_2(\lambda x_2)\ldots\rangle= \lambda^\langle O_1(x_1) O_2(x_2)\ldots\r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theoretical Physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimental tools to probe these phenomena. The advancement of science generally depends on the interplay between experimental studies and theory. In some cases, theoretical physics adheres to standards of mathematical rigour while giving little weight to experiments and observations.There is some debate as to whether or not theoretical physics uses mathematics to build intuition and illustrativeness to extract physical insight (especially when normal experience fails), rather than as a tool in formalizing theories. This links to the question of it using mathematics in a less formally rigorous, and more intuitive or heuristic way than, say, mathematical physics. For example, while developing special relativity, Albert E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conformal Field Theory
A conformal field theory (CFT) is a quantum field theory that is invariant under conformal transformations. In two dimensions, there is an infinite-dimensional algebra of local conformal transformations, and conformal field theories can sometimes be exactly solved or classified. Conformal field theory has important applications to condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, quantum statistical mechanics, and string theory. Statistical and condensed matter systems are indeed often conformally invariant at their thermodynamic or quantum critical points. Scale invariance vs conformal invariance In quantum field theory, scale invariance is a common and natural symmetry, because any fixed point of the renormalization group is by definition scale invariant. Conformal symmetry is stronger than scale invariance, and one needs additional assumptions to argue that it should appear in nature. The basic idea behind its plausibility is that ''local'' scale invariant theories have t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infrared Fixed Point
In physics, an infrared fixed point is a set of coupling constants, or other parameters, that evolve from arbitrary initial values at very high energies (short distance) to fixed, stable values, usually predictable, at low energies (large distance). This usually involves the use of the renormalization group, which specifically details the way parameters in a physical system (a quantum field theory) depend on the energy scale being probed. Conversely, if the length-scale decreases and the physical parameters approach fixed values, then we have ultraviolet fixed points. The fixed points are generally independent of the initial values of the parameters over a large range of the initial values. This is known as universality. Statistical physics In the statistical physics of second order phase transitions, the physical system approaches an infrared fixed point that is independent of the initial short distance dynamics that defines the material. This determines the properties of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beta Function (physics)
In theoretical physics, specifically quantum field theory, a beta function or Gell-Mann–Low function, ''β(g)'', encodes the dependence of a coupling parameter, ''g'', on the energy scale, ''μ'', of a given physical process described by quantum field theory. It is defined by the Gell-Mann–Low equation or renormalization group equation, given by :: \beta(g) = \mu \frac = \frac ~, and, because of the underlying renormalization group, it has no explicit dependence on ''μ'', so it only depends on ''μ'' implicitly through ''g''. This dependence on the energy scale thus specified is known as the running of the coupling parameter, a fundamental feature of scale-dependence in quantum field theory, and its explicit computation is achievable through a variety of mathematical techniques. The concept of beta function was first introduced by Ernst Stueckelberg and André Petermann in 1953, and independently postulated by Murray Gell-Mann and Francis E. Low in 1954. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coupling Constant
In physics, a coupling constant or gauge coupling parameter (or, more simply, a coupling), is a number that determines the strength of the force exerted in an interaction. Originally, the coupling constant related the force acting between two static bodies to the " charges" of the bodies (i.e. the electric charge for electrostatic and the mass for Newtonian gravity) divided by the distance squared, r^2, between the bodies; thus: G in F=G m_1 m_2/r^2 for Newtonian gravity and k_\text in F=k_\textq_1 q_2/r^2 for electrostatic. This description remains valid in modern physics for linear theories with static bodies and massless force carriers. A modern and more general definition uses the Lagrangian \mathcal (or equivalently the Hamiltonian \mathcal) of a system. Usually, \mathcal (or \mathcal) of a system describing an interaction can be separated into a ''kinetic part'' T and an ''interaction part'' V: \mathcal=T-V (or \mathcal=T+V). In field theory, V always contains 3 fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Power Series
In mathematics, a power series (in one variable) is an infinite series of the form \sum_^\infty a_n \left(x - c\right)^n = a_0 + a_1 (x - c) + a_2 (x - c)^2 + \dots where ''a_n'' represents the coefficient of the ''n''th term and ''c'' is a constant called the ''center'' of the series. Power series are useful in mathematical analysis, where they arise as Taylor series of infinitely differentiable functions. In fact, Borel's theorem implies that every power series is the Taylor series of some smooth function. In many situations, the center ''c'' is equal to zero, for instance for Maclaurin series. In such cases, the power series takes the simpler form \sum_^\infty a_n x^n = a_0 + a_1 x + a_2 x^2 + \dots. The partial sums of a power series are polynomials, the partial sums of the Taylor series of an analytic function are a sequence of converging polynomial approximations to the function at the center, and a converging power series can be seen as a kind of generalized polynom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coupling Constant
In physics, a coupling constant or gauge coupling parameter (or, more simply, a coupling), is a number that determines the strength of the force exerted in an interaction. Originally, the coupling constant related the force acting between two static bodies to the " charges" of the bodies (i.e. the electric charge for electrostatic and the mass for Newtonian gravity) divided by the distance squared, r^2, between the bodies; thus: G in F=G m_1 m_2/r^2 for Newtonian gravity and k_\text in F=k_\textq_1 q_2/r^2 for electrostatic. This description remains valid in modern physics for linear theories with static bodies and massless force carriers. A modern and more general definition uses the Lagrangian \mathcal (or equivalently the Hamiltonian \mathcal) of a system. Usually, \mathcal (or \mathcal) of a system describing an interaction can be separated into a ''kinetic part'' T and an ''interaction part'' V: \mathcal=T-V (or \mathcal=T+V). In field theory, V always contains 3 fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operator Product Expansion
In quantum field theory, the operator product expansion (OPE) is used as an axiom to define the product of fields as a sum over the same fields. As an axiom, it offers a non-perturbative approach to quantum field theory. One example is the vertex operator algebra, which has been used to construct two-dimensional conformal field theory, two-dimensional conformal field theories. Whether this result can be extended to QFT in general, thus resolving many of the difficulties of a perturbative approach, remains an open research question. In practical calculations, such as those needed for scattering amplitudes in various collider experiments, the operator product expansion is used in QCD sum rules to combine results from both perturbative and non-perturbative (condensate) calculations. OPE Formulation and Application of Thirring model, Thirring Model are conceived by Kenneth G. Wilson. 2D Euclidean quantum field theory In 2D Euclidean field theory, the operator product expansion is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimal Model (physics)
In theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ..., a minimal model or Virasoro minimal model is a two-dimensional conformal field theory whose spectrum is built from finitely many irreducible representations of the Virasoro algebra. Minimal models have been classified, giving rise to an ADE classification. Most minimal models have been solved, i.e. their 3-point structure constants have been computed analytically. The term minimal model can also refer to a rational CFT based on an algebra that is larger than the Virasoro algebra, such as a W-algebra. Relevant representations of the Virasoro algebra Representations In minimal models, the central charge of the Virasoro algebra takes values of the type : c_ = 1 - 6 \ . where p, q are coprime integers s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ising Model
The Ising model (or Lenz–Ising model), named after the physicists Ernst Ising and Wilhelm Lenz, is a mathematical models in physics, mathematical model of ferromagnetism in statistical mechanics. The model consists of discrete variables that represent Nuclear magnetic moment, magnetic dipole moments of atomic "spins" that can be in one of two states (+1 or −1). The spins are arranged in a Graph (abstract data type), graph, usually a lattice (group), lattice (where the local structure repeats periodically in all directions), allowing each spin to interact with its neighbors. Neighboring spins that agree have a lower energy than those that disagree; the system tends to the lowest energy but heat disturbs this tendency, thus creating the possibility of different structural phases.The two-dimensional square-lattice Ising model is one of the simplest statistical models to show a phase transition. Though it is a highly simplified model of a magnetic material, the Ising model can sti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Field Theory
In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines Field theory (physics), field theory and the principle of relativity with ideas behind quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and in condensed matter physics to construct models of quasiparticles. The current standard model of particle physics is based on QFT. History Quantum field theory emerged from the work of generations of theoretical physicists spanning much of the 20th century. Its development began in the 1920s with the description of interactions between light and electrons, culminating in the first quantum field theory—quantum electrodynamics. A major theoretical obstacle soon followed with the appearance and persistence of various infinities in perturbative calculations, a problem only resolved in the 1950s with the invention of the renormalization procedure. A second major barrier came with QFT's apparent inabili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invariant Theory
Invariant theory is a branch of abstract algebra dealing with actions of groups on algebraic varieties, such as vector spaces, from the point of view of their effect on functions. Classically, the theory dealt with the question of explicit description of polynomial functions that do not change, or are ''invariant'', under the transformations from a given linear group. For example, if we consider the action of the special linear group ''SLn'' on the space of ''n'' by ''n'' matrices by left multiplication, then the determinant is an invariant of this action because the determinant of ''A X'' equals the determinant of ''X'', when ''A'' is in ''SLn''. Introduction Let G be a group, and V a finite-dimensional vector space over a field k (which in classical invariant theory was usually assumed to be the complex numbers). A representation of G in V is a group homomorphism \pi:G \to GL(V), which induces a group action of G on V. If k /math> is the space of polynomial functions on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
