A geometric formulation of Wilson's exact renormalisation group is presented based on a gauge invariant ultraviolet regularisation scheme without the introduction of a background field. This allows for a manifestly background independent approach to quantum gravity and gauge theories in the continuum. The regularisation is a geometric variant of Slavnov's scheme consisting of a modified action, which suppresses high momentum modes, supplemented by Pauli-Villars determinants in the path integral measure. An exact renormalisation group flow equation for the Wilsonian effective action is derived by requiring that the path integral is invariant under a change in the cutoff scale while preserving quasi-locality. The renormalisation group flow is defined directly on the space of gauge invariant actions without the need to fix the gauge. We show that the one-loop beta function in Yang-Mills and the one-loop divergencies of General Relativity can be calculated without fixing the gauge. As a first non-perturbative application we find the form of the Yang-Mills beta function within a simple truncation of the Wilsonian effective action.
In this paper, we use the exact renormalisation in the context of tensor models and tensorial group field theories. As a byproduct, we rederive Gaussian universality for random tensors and provide a general power counting for Abelian tensorial field theories with a closure constraint, leading us to a only five renormalizable theories.
In this paper, we review some general formulations of exact renormalisation group equations and loop equations for tensor models and tensorial group field theories. We illustrate the use of these equations in the derivation of the leading order expectation values of observables in tensor models. Furthermore, we use the exact renormalisation group equations to establish a suitable scaling dimension for interactions in Abelian tensorial group field theories with a closure constraint. We also present analogues of the loop equations for tensor models.
In this paper we review the definition and properties of redundant operators in the exact renormalisation group. We explain why it is important to require them to be eigenoperators and why generically they appear only as a consequence of symmetries of the particular choice of renormalisation group equations. This clarifies when Newton's constant and or the cosmological constant can be considered inessential. We then apply these ideas to the Local Potential Approximation and approximations of a similar spirit such as the f(R) approximation in the asymptotic safety programme in quantum gravity. …
The exact renormalisation group equation is studied for a two-dimensional theory with exponential interaction and a background charge at infinity. The motivation for studying this interaction is the flow between unitary minimal models perturbed by Phi_{(1,3)}, and their realisation in terms of a quantum group restricted sine-Gordon model.
We discuss gauge symmetry and Ward-Takahashi identities for Wilsonian flows in pure Yang-Mills theories. The background field formalism is used for the construction of a gauge invariant effective action. The symmetries of the effective action under gauge transformations for both the gauge field and the auxiliary background field are separately evaluated. We examine how the symmetry properties of the full theory are restored in the limit where the cut-off is removed.
These lecture notes introduce exact Wilsonian renormalisation, and describe its technical approach, from an intuitive implementation to more advanced realisations. The methods and concepts are explained with a scalar theory, and their extension to quantum gravity is discussed as an application.
We use the Wilsonian functional Renormalisation Group (RG) to study quantum corrections for the Higgs inflationary action including the effect of gravitons, and analyse the leading-order quantum gravitational corrections to the Higgs' quartic coupling, as well as its non-minimal coupling to gravity and Newton's constant, at the inflationary regime and beyond. We explain how within this framework the effect of Higgs and graviton loops can be sufficiently suppressed during inflation, and we also place a bound on the corresponding value of the infrared RG cut-off scale during inflation. Finally, …
The perturbative description of an electron propagating in a plane wave background is developed and loop corrections analysed. The ultraviolet divergences and associated renormalisation are studied using the sideband framework within which the multiplicative form of the corrections becomes manifest. An additional renormalisation beyond that usually expected is identified and interpreted as a loop correction to the background induced mass term. Results for the strong field sector are conjectured.
We study a proper-time renormalisation group, which is based on an operator cut-off regularisation of the one-loop effective action. The predictive power of this approach is constrained because the flow is not an exact one. We compare it to the Exact Renormalisation Group, which is based on a momentum regulator in the Wilsonian sense. In contrast to the former, the latter provides an exact flow. To leading order in a derivative expansion, an explicit map from the exact to the proper-time renormalisation group is established. The opposite map does not exist in general. We discuss various implic…
We investigate the convergence of the derivative expansion of the exact renormalisation group, by using it to compute the beta function of scalar theory. We demonstrate that the derivative expansion of the Polchinski flow equation converges at one loop for certain fast falling smooth cutoffs. The derivative expansion of the Legendre flow equation trivially converges at one loop, but also at two loops: slowly with sharp cutoff (as a momentum-scale expansion), and rapidly in the case of a smooth exponential cutoff. We also show that the two loop contributions to certain higher derivative operato…
We construct exact solutions to the functional renormalisation group equation of the O(N) model and the Gross-Neveu model at large N for $2<d<4$, without specifying the form of the regulator. This allows to investigate which quantities are independent of the choice of regulator without being plagued by truncation artefacts. We find that only universal quantities, like critical exponents, and qualitative features, like the existence of a finite vacuum expectation value, are regulator-independent, whereas values of coupling constants are generically arbitrary. We also provide a general algorithm…
We show that an inflationary slow-roll potential can be derived as an IR limit of the non-perturbative exact renormalisation group equation for a scalar field within the mean-field approximation. The result follows without having to specify a Lagrangian for the UV theory at the Planck scale. We assume that the theory contains a scalar mode with suppressed coupling to other UV fields, and that higher derivative couplings are suppressed. The resulting effective potential gives rise to slow-roll inflation, which is fully consistent with the recent observations. As an example of how the proposed r…
We take the manifestly gauge invariant exact renormalisation group previously used to compute the one-loop beta function in SU(N) Yang-Mills without gauge fixing, and generalise it so that it can be renormalised straightforwardly at any loop order. The diagrammatic computational method is developed to cope with general group theory structures, and new methods are introduced to increase its power, so that much more can be done simply by manipulating diagrams. The new methods allow the standard two-loop beta function coefficient for SU(N) Yang-Mills to be computed, for the first time without fix…
We study different renormalisation group flows for scale dependent effective actions, including exact and proper-time renormalisation group flows. These flows have a simple one loop structure. They differ in their dependence on the full field-dependent propagator, which is linear for exact flows. We investigate the inherent approximations of flows with a non-linear dependence on the propagator. We check explicitly that standard perturbation theory is not reproduced. We explain the origin of the discrepancy by providing links to exact flows both in closed expressions and in given approximations…
We study quantum corrections to Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology with a scalar field under the assumption that the dynamics are subject to renormalisation group improvement. We use the Bianchi identity to relate the renormalisation group scale to the scale factor and obtain the improved cosmological evolution equations. We study the solutions of these equations in the renormalisation group fixed point regime, obtaining the time-dependence of the scalar field strength and the Hubble parameter in specific models with monomial and trinomial quartic scalar field potentials. We find that power-…
Gauge theories in axial gauges are studied using Exact Renormalisation Group flows. We introduce a background field in the infrared regulator, but not in the gauge fixing, in contrast to the usual background field gauge. It is shown how heat-kernel methods can be used to obtain approximate solutions to the flow and the corresponding Ward identities. Expansion schemes are discussed, which are not applicable in covariant gauges. As an application, we derive the one-loop effective action for covariantly constant field strength, and the one-loop beta-function for arbitrary regulator.
A simple criterion to optimise coarse-grainings for exact renormalisation group equations is given. It is aimed at improving the convergence of approximate solutions of flow equations. The optimisation criterion is generic, as it refers only to the coarse-grained propagator at vanishing field. In physical terms, it is understood as an optimisation condition for amplitude expansions. Alternatively, it can be interpreted as the requirement to move poles of threshold functions away from the physical region. The link to expansions in field amplitudes is discussed as well. Optimal parameters are gi…
The Jaynes-Cummings model is a cornerstone of light-matter interactions. While finite, the model provides an illustrative example of renormalisation in perturbation theory. We show, however, that exact renormalisation reveals a rich non-perturbative structure, and that the model provides a physical example of a theory with a chaotic coupling trajectory and multi-valued beta-function. We also construct an exact Wilsonian-like renormalisation group flow for the effective scattering matrix, and show how multi-valued features arise in the flow. Our results shed light on non-perturbative aspects of…
We propose a method for determining the exact correspondence between the Wilsonian cut-off scale on the boundary and its holographically dual bulk theory. We systematically construct the multi-trace Wilsonian effective action from holographic renormalisation and evolve it by integrating out the asymptotically Anti-de Sitter bulk geometry with scalar probes. The Wilsonian nature of the effective action is shown by proving that it must be either double-trace, closing in on itself under successive integrations, or have an infinite series of multi-trace terms. Focusing on composite scalar operator…
The Polchinski version of the exact renormalisation group equations is applied to multicritical fixed points, which are present for dimensions between two and four, for scalar theories using both the local potential approximation and its extension, the derivative expansion. The results are compared with the epsilon expansion by showing that the non linear differential equations may be linearised at each multicritical point and the epsilon expansion treated as a perturbative expansion. The results for critical exponents are compared with corresponding epsilon expansion results from standard per…
By means of simple models in a flat spacetime manifold we examine some of the issues that arise when quantizing interacting quantum fields in multi-metric backgrounds. In particular we investigate the maintenance of a causal structure in the models. In this context we introduce and explain the relevance of an interpolating metric that is a superposition of the individual metrics in the models. We study the renormalisation of a model with quartic interactions and elucidate the structure of the renormalisation group and its implications for Lorentz symmetry breakdown.
The scaling behaviour of euclidean quantum gravity at an asymptotically safe critical point is studied by means of the exact renormalisation group. Gauge independence is ensured via a specific parameterisation of metric fluctuations introduced in a recent paper. Within a non-perturbative approximation the beta function for Newton's constant takes a simple form to all orders in $\hbar$. A UV fixed point is found to exist for $d\leq 7$ spacetime dimensions at which the critical scaling can be assessed. The critical exponent for the Newton's constant $ν$ is found to be regulator independent close…
Within the exact renormalisation group approach, it is shown that stability properties of the flow are controlled by the choice for the regulator. Equally, the convergence of the flow is enhanced for specific optimised choices for the regularisation. As an illustration, we exemplify our reasoning for 3d scalar theories at criticality. Implications for other theories are discussed.
Using the renormalisation group and a conjecture concerning the perturbation series for the effective potential, the leading logarithms in the effective potential are exactly summed for $O(N)$ scalar and Yukawa theories.
We investigate the structure of Polchinski's formulation of the flow equations for the continuum Wilson effective action. Reinterpretations in terms of I.R. cutoff greens functions are given. A promising non-perturbative approximation scheme is derived by carefully taking the sharp cutoff limit and expanding in `irrelevancy' of operators. We illustrate with two simple models of four dimensional $λφ^4$ theory: the cactus approximation, and a model incorporating the first irrelevant correction to the renormalized coupling. The qualitative and quantitative behaviour give confidence in a fuller us…
We study exact renormalisation group equations for the 3d Ising universality class. At the Wilson-Fisher fixed point, symmetric and antisymmetric correction-to-scaling exponents are computed with high accuracy for an optimised cutoff to leading order in the derivative expansion. Further results are derived for other cutoffs including smooth, sharp and background field cutoffs. An estimate for higher order corrections is given as well. We establish that the leading antisymmetric corrections to scaling are strongly subleading compared to the leading symmetric ones.
We examine the precise connection between the exact renormalisation group with local couplings and the renormalisation of correlation functions of composite operators in scale-invariant theories. A geometric description of theory space allows us to select convenient non-linear parametrisations that serve different purposes. First, we identify normal parameters in which the renormalisation group flows take their simplest form; normal correlators are defined by functional differentiation with respect to these parameters. The renormalised correlation functions are given by the continuum limit of …
We analyse approximate solutions to an exact renormalisation group equation with particular emphasis on their dependence on the regularisation scheme, which is kept arbitrary. Physical quantities related to the coarse-grained potential of scalar QED display universal behaviour for strongly first-order phase transitions. Only subleading corrections depend on the regularisation scheme and are suppressed by a sufficiently large UV scale. We calculate the relevant coarse-graining scale and give a condition for the applicability of Langer's theory of bubble nucleation.
We explore the cosmological dynamics of an effective f(R) model constructed from a renormalisation group (RG) improvement of the Einstein--Hilbert action, using the non-perturbative beta functions of the exact renormalisation group equation. The resulting f(R) model has some remarkable properties. It naturally exhibits an unstable de Sitter era in the ultraviolet (UV), dynamically connected to a stable de Sitter era in the IR, via a period of radiation and matter domination, thereby describing a non-singular universe. We find that the UV de Sitter point is one of an infinite set, which make th…
The scalar mass is determined in the simplest scalar-fermion Yukawa-model in the whole range of stability of the scalar potential. Two versions of the Functional Renormalisation Group (FRG) equations are solved, where also composite fermionic background is taken into account. The close agreement of the results with previous studies taking into account exclusively the effect of the scalar condensate, supports a rather small systematic truncation error of FRG due to the omission of higher dimensional operators.
We study the 3d Ising universality class using the functional renormalisation group. With the help of background fields and a derivative expansion up to fourth order we compute the leading index, the subleading symmetric and anti-symmetric corrections to scaling, the anomalous dimension, the scaling solution, and the eigenperturbations at criticality. We also study the cross-correlations of scaling exponents, and their dependence on dimensionality. We find a very good numerical convergence of the derivative expansion, also in comparison with earlier findings. Evaluating the data from all funct…
We construct a manifestly gauge invariant Exact Renormalisation Group (ERG) whose form is suitable for computation in SU(N) Yang-Mills theory, beyond one-loop. An effective cutoff is implemented by embedding the physical SU(N) theory in a spontaneously broken SU(N|N) Yang-Mills theory. To facilitate computations within this scheme, which proceed at every step without fixing the gauge, we develop a set of diagrammatic techniques. As an initial test of the formalism, the one-loop SU(N) Yang-Mills beta-function, beta_1, is computed, and the standard, universal answer is reproduced. It is recognis…
The dual Meissner effect scenario of confinement is discussed by studying the low energy regime of SU(2) Yang-Mills in a maximal Abelian gauge. The Abelian projected effective action is computed perturbatively. This serves as an input for a study of the non-perturbative regime, which is undertaken using exact renormalisation group methods. It is argued that the effective action derived here contains the relevant degrees of freedom for confinement if ultraviolet irrelevant vertices are retained.
We discuss the far-from-equilibrium evolution of $ϕ^3$-theory in $1+1$ dimensions with the temporal functional renormalisation group \cite{Gasenzer:2007za, Gasenzer:2010rq}. In particular, we show that this manifestly causal approach leads to novel one-loop exact equations for fully dressed correlation functions. Within this setup, we numerically compute the dynamical propagator. Its behaviour suggests self-similarity far from equilibrium in a restricted momentum regime. We discuss the scaling exponents for our solution, as well as the numerical satisfaction of energy and particle number conse…
Functional Renormalisation Group (FRG) equations are constructed for a simple Yukawa-model with discrete chiral symmetry, including also the effect of a nonzero composite fermion background beyond the conventional scalar condensate. The evolution of the effective potential of the model, generically depending on two invariants, is explored with help of power series expansions. Systematic investigation of the effect of a class of irrelevant operators on the lower (stability) bound allows a non-perturbative extension of the maximal cut-off value consistent with any given mass of the scalar field.
We construct a hierarchy of lattice fermions, where the coarser lattice Dirac operator is the Schur complement of the block UL decomposition of the finer lattice operator. We show that the construction is an exact gauged renormalisation group transformation of the lattice action. In particular, using such a transformation and the QCDLAB tool, it is shown how to implement the Ginsparg-Wilson strategy for chiral fermions in the presence of a dynamical gauge field. The scheme allows, for the first time, a full multigrid algorithm for lattice quarks.
We compute the two-loop $β$-function of scalar and spinorial quantum electrodynamics as well as pure Yang-Mills and quantum chromodynamics using the background field method in a fully quadridimensional setup using Implicit Regularization (IREG). Moreover, a thorough comparison with dimensional approaches such as conventional dimensional regularization (CDR) and dimensional reduction (DRED) is presented. Subtleties related to Lorentz algebra contractions/symmetric integrations inside divergent integrals as well as renormalisation schemes are carefully discussed within IREG where the renormalisa…
In this paper we continue the study of the truncated conformal space approach to perturbed boundary conformal field theories. This approach to perturbation theory suffers from a renormalisation of the coupling constant and a multiplicative renormalisation of the Hamiltonian. We show how these two effects can be predicted by both physical and mathematical arguments and prove that they are correct to leading order for all states in the TCSA system. We check these results using the TCSA applied to the tri-critical Ising model and the Yang-Lee model. We also study the TCSA of an irrelevant (non-re…
The dual Meissner effect scenario of confinement is analysed using exact renormalisation group (ERG) equations. In particular, the low energy regime of SU(2) Yang-Mills is studied in a maximal Abelian gauge. It is shown that under general conditions the effective action derived when integrated using ERG methods contains the relevant degrees of freedom for confinement. In addition, the physics in the confining regime is dual to that of the broken phase of an Abelian Higgs model.
We study the optimisation of exact renormalisation group (ERG) flows. We explain why the convergence of approximate solutions towards the physical theory is optimised by appropriate choices of the regularisation. We consider specific optimised regulators for bosonic and fermionic fields and compare the optimised ERG flows with generic ones. This is done up to second order in the derivative expansion at both vanishing and non-vanishing temperature. We find that optimised flows at finite temperature factorise. This corresponds to the disentangling of thermal and quantum fluctuations. A similar f…
The one-loop effective action for the scalar field part of a non-Abelian gauge theory based on a general gauge group of the form $G\times U(1)$, where the gauge group $G$ is arbitrary, is calculated. A complex scalar field, both Abelian and non-Abelian gauge fields and Dirac fermions coupled to gauge and scalar fields are included. A general mass term for the Dirac fields that includes a pseudoscalar term as well as both scalar and pseudoscalar Yukawa couplings is considered. The background field method is used in its manifestly gauge condition independent and gauge invariant form to isolate t…
Several functional renormalisation group (RG) equations including Polchinski flows and Exact RG flows are compared from a conceptual point of view and in given truncations. Similarities and differences are highlighted with special emphasis on stability properties. The main observations are worked out at the example of O(N) symmetric scalar field theories where the flows, universal critical exponents and scaling potentials are compared within a derivative expansion. To leading order, it is established that Polchinski flows and ERG flows - despite their inequivalent derivative expansions - have …
We study exact renormalisation group flows for background field dependent regularisations. It is shown that proper-time flows are approximations to exact background field flows for a specific class of regulators. We clarify the role of the implicit scale dependence introduced by the background field. Its impact on the flow is evaluated numerically for scalar theories at criticality for different approximations and regularisations. Implications for gauge theories are discussed.
We propose a novel scheme for the exact renormalisation group motivated by the desire of reducing the complexity of practical computations. The key idea is to specify renormalisation conditions for all inessential couplings, leaving us with the task of computing only the flow of the essential ones. To achieve this aim, we utilise a renormalisation group equation for the effective average action which incorporates general non-linear field reparameterisations. A prominent feature of the scheme is that, apart from the renormalisation of the mass, the propagator evaluated at any constant value of …
We evaluate the phase diagram of quantum gravity within a fully diffeomorphism-invariant renormalisation group approach. The construction is based on the geometrical or Vilkovisky-DeWitt effective action. We also resolve the difference between the fluctuation metric and the background metric. This allows for fully background-independent flows in gravity. The results provide further evidence for the ultraviolet fixed point scenario in quantum gravity with quantitative changes for the fixed point physics. We also find a stable infrared fixed point related to classical Einstein gravity. Implicati…
In this paper we study a simple example of a two-parameter space of renormalisation group flows of defects in Virasoro minimal models. We use a combination of exact results, perturbation theory and the truncated conformal space approach to search for fixed points and investigate their nature. For the Ising model, we confirm the recent results of Fendley et al. In the case of central charge close to one, we find six fixed points, five of which we can identify in terms of known defects and one of which we conjecture is a new non-trivial conformal defect. We also include several new results on ex…
We calculate the ultraviolet divergences in a weak field expansion of the Volkov propagator. This is done for the full Lorentz class of gauges. The expected gauge invariance of the vacuum mass shift in each sideband is recovered. However, the renormalisation of the background induced mass shift is shown to be gauge dependent. In particular, we show that it vanishes in Landau gauge. We find that only in that gauge does the vacuum renormalisation remove all ultraviolet divergences.
Within the exact renormalisation group, the scaling solutions for O(N) symmetric scalar field theories are studied to leading order in the derivative expansion. The Gaussian fixed point is examined for d>2 dimensions and arbitrary infrared regularisation. The Wilson-Fisher fixed point in d=3 is studied using an optimised flow. We compute critical exponents and subleading corrections-to-scaling to high accuracy from the eigenvalues of the stability matrix at criticality for all N. We establish that the optimisation is responsible for the rapid convergence of the flow and polynomial truncations …
We interpret cosmological evolution holographically as a renormalisation group flow in a dual Euclidean field theory, as suggested by the conjectured dS/CFT correspondence. Inflation is described by perturbing around the infra-red fixed point of the dual field theory. The spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation is determined in terms of scaling violations in the field theory. The dark energy allows similar, albeit less predictive, considerations. We discuss the cosmological fine-tuning problems from the holographic perspective.
Exploiting the gauge freedom associated with the Volkov description of a charge propagating in a plane wave background, we identify a new type of gauge choice which significantly simplifies the theory. This allows us to develop a compact description of the propagator for both scalar and fermionic matter, in a circularly polarised background. It is shown that many of the usually observed structures are gauge artefacts. We then analyse the full ultraviolet behaviour of the one-loop corrections for such charges. This enables us to identify and contrast the different renormalisation prescriptions …
We obtain classes of two dimensional static Lorentzian manifolds, which through the supersymmetric formalism of quantum mechanics admit the exact solvability of Dirac equation on these curved backgrounds. Specially in the case of a modified supersymmetric harmonic oscillator the wave function and energy spectrum of Dirac equation is given explicitly.
