We define a one-particle irreducible (1PI) Wilson action in the gradient flow exact renormalization group (GFERG) formalism as the Legendre transform of a Wilson action. We consider quantum electrodynamics in particular, and show that the GFERG flow equation preserves the invariance of the 1PI Wilson action (excluding the gauge-fixing term) under the \emph{conventional\/} $U(1)$ gauge transformation. This is in contrast to the invariance of the original Wilson action under a modified $U(1)$ gauge transformation. The global chiral transformation also takes the \emph{conventional\/} form for the 1PI Wilson action. Despite the complexity of the GFERG flow equation, the conventional form of the gauge and global chiral transformations may allow us to introduce a non-perturbative Ansatz for gauge and chiral invariant 1PI Wilson actions.
We propose a method using perturbation theory in the running coupling constant and the idea of scaling to determine improved actions for lattice field theories combining Wilson's renormalization group with Symanzik's improvement program . The method is based on the analysis of a single renormalization group transformation. We test it on the hierarchical $O(N)$ invariant $σ$ model in two dimensions.
The gradient flow is the evolution of fields and physical quantities along a dimensionful parameter~$t$, the flow time. We give a simple argument that relates this gradient flow and the Wilsonian renormalization group (RG) flow. We then illustrate the Wilsonian RG flow on the basis of the gradient flow in two examples that possess an infrared fixed point, the 4D many-flavor gauge theory and the 3D $O(N)$ linear sigma model.
A version of the Wilson Renormalization Group Equation consistent with gauge symmetry is presented. A perturbative renormalizability proof is established. A wilsonian derivation of the Callan-Symanzik equation is given.
We clarify the relation between the wave function renormalization for Wilson actions and that for the 1PI actions in the exact renormalization group formalism. Our study depends crucially on the use of two independent cutoff functions for the Wilson actions. We relate our results to those obtained previously by Bervillier, Rosten, and Osborn & Twigg.
In finite-temperature field theory, the cyclic Wilson loop is defined as a rectangular Wilson loop spanning the whole compactified time direction. In a generic non-abelian gauge theory, we calculate the perturbative expansion of the cyclic Wilson loop up to order g^4. At this order and after charge renormalization, the cyclic Wilson loop is known to be ultraviolet divergent. We show that the divergence is not associated with cusps in the contour but is instead due to the contour intersecting itself because of the periodic boundary conditions. One consequence of this is that the cyclic Wilson l…
The general prescription for constructing the continuum limit of a field theory is explained using Wilson's renormalization group. We then formulate the renormalization group in perturbation theory and apply it to the four dimensional phi4 theory and QED.
A nonperturbative determination of the energy-momentum tensor is essential for understanding the physics of strongly coupled systems. The ability of the Wilson flow to eliminate divergent contact terms makes it a practical method for renormalizing the energy-momentum tensor on the lattice. In this paper, we utilize the Wilson flow to define a procedure to renormalize the energy-momentum tensor for a three-dimensional massless scalar field in the adjoint of $SU(N)$ with a $φ^4$ interaction on the lattice. In this theory the energy-momentum tensor can mix with $φ^2$ and we present numerical resu…
We use the Wilson renormalization group (RG) formulation to solve the fine-tuning procedure needed in renormalization schemes breaking the gauge symmetry. To illustrate this method we systematically compute the non-invariant couplings of the ultraviolet action of the SU(2) pure Yang-Mills theory at one-loop order.
We introduce a new prescription for renormalizing Feynman diagrams. The prescription is similar to BPHZ, but it is mass independent, and works in the massless limit as the MS scheme with dimensional regularization. The prescription gives a diagrammatic solution to Wilson's exact renormalization group differential equation.
The free energy is shown to decrease along Wilson renormalization group trajectories, in a dimension-independent fashion, for $d>2.$ The argument assumes the monotonicity of the cutoff function, and positivity of a spectral representation of the two point function. The argument is valid to all orders in perturbation theory.
We make some comments on the renormalization of Wilson operators (not just vacuum -expectation values of Wilson operators), and the features which arise in Minkowski space. If the Wilson loop contains a straight light-like segment, charge renormalization does not work in a simple graph-by-graph way; but does work when certain graphs are added together. We also verify that, in a simple example of a smooth loop in Minkowski space, the existence of pairs of points which are light-like separated does not cause any extra divergences.
Schwarz-Christoffel (SC) mapping plays a crucial role in the calculation of the large-size expansion for polygonal Wilson loops in confining gauge theories using effective string theory (EST). Recently a new analytical regularization based on SC mapping was suggested and successfully applied to the calculation of the two-loop contribution of EST in the case of triangular Wilson loops. We prove that this analytical renormalization produces finite results for arbitrary polygonal Wilson loops and show that the result of the analytical renormalization for a given polygonal contour is independent o…
A new form of the Wilson renormalization group equation is derived, in which the flow equations are, up to linear terms, proportional to a gradient flow. A set of coördinates is found in which the flow of marginal, low-energy, couplings takes a gradient form, if relevant couplings are tuned to vanish.
We give a wilsonian formulation of non-abelian gauge theories explicitly consistent with axial gauge Ward identitities. The issues of unitarity and dependence on the quantization direction are carefully investigated. A wilsonian computation of the one-loop QCD beta function is performed.
We derive the Wilsonian renormalization group equation in two dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric nonlinear sigma models. This equation shows that the sigma models on compact Einstein Kähler manifolds are aymptotically free. This result is gerenal and does not depend on the specific forms of the Kähler potentials. We also examine the renormalization group flow in a new model which connects two manifolds with different global symmetries.
We derive the Gell-Mann and Low renormalization group equation in the Wilsonian approach to renormalization of massless $gϕ^4$ in four dimensions, as a particular case of a non-linear equation satisfied at any scale by the Wilsonian effective action. We give an exact expression for the $β$ and $γ_ϕ$ functions in terms of the Wilsonian effective action at the Wilsonian renormalization scale $Ł_R$; at the first two loops they are simply related to the gradient of the flow of the relevant couplings and have the standard values; beyond two loops this relation is spoilt by corrections due to irrele…
The locally BPS Wilson loop and the pure gauge Wilson loop map under AdS/CFT duality to string world-sheet boundaries with standard and alternate quantizations of the world-sheet fields. This implies an RG flow between the two operators, which we verify at weak coupling. Many additional loop operators exist at strong coupling, with a rich pattern of RG flows.
This is an elementary introduction to Wilson renormalization group and continuum effective field theories. We first review the idea of Wilsonian effective theory and derive the flow equation in a form that allows multiple insertion of operators in Green functions. Then, based on this formalism, we prove decoupling and heavy-mass factorization theorems, and discuss how the continuum effective field theory is formulated in this approach.
We discuss a resummed perturbation theory based on the Wilson renormalization group. In this formulation the Wilsonian flowing couplings, which generalize the running coupling, enter directly into the loop expansion. In the case of an asymptotically free theory the flowing coupling is well defined since the infrared Landau pole is absent. We show this property in the case of the $ϕ^3_6$ theory. We also extend this formulation to the QED theory and we prove that it is consistent with gauge invariance.
In the holographic approach to cosmology, cosmological observables are described in terms of correlators of a three-dimensional boundary quantum field theory. As a concrete model, we study the $3D$ massless $SU(N)$ scalar matrix field theory with a $ϕ^4$ interaction. On the lattice, the energy-momentum tensor (EMT) in this theory can mix with the operator $ϕ^2$. We utilize the Wilson Flow to renormalize the EMT on the lattice, and present numerical results for the mixing coefficient for $N = 2$. Obtaining the renormalized EMT will allow us to make predictions for the CMB power spectra in the r…
We present a method to solve the master equation for the Wilsonian action in the antifield formalism. This is based on a representation theory for cutoff dependent global symmetries along the Wilsonian renormalization group (RG) flow. For the chiral symmetry, the master equation for the free theory yields a continuum version of the Ginsparg-Wilson relation. We construct chiral invariant operators describing fermionic self-interactions. The use of canonically transformed variables is shown to simplify the underlying algebraic structure of the symmetry. We also give another non-trivial example, …
Gradient Flow Exact Renormalization Group (GFERG) is a framework to define the Wilson action via a gradient flow equation. We study the fixed point structure of the GFERG equation associated with a general gradient flow equation for scalar field theories and show that it is the same as that of the conventional Wilson-Polchinski (WP) equation in general. Furthermore, we discuss that the GFERG equation has a similar RG flow structure around a fixed point to the WP equation. We illustrate these results with the $O(N)$ non-linear sigma model in $4-ε$ dimensions and the Wilson-Fisher fixed point.
We develop parallels between the holographic renormalization group in the bulk and the Wilsonian renormalization group in the dual field theory. Our philosophy differs from most previous work on the holographic RG; the most notable feature is the key role of multi-trace operators. We work out the forms of various single- and double-trace flows. The key question, `what cutoff on the field theory corresponds to a radial cutoff in the bulk?' is left unanswered, but by sharpening the analogy between the two sides we identify possible directions.
A personal and subjective recollection, concerning mainly Wilson's lectures delivered over the spring of 1972 at Princeton University (summary of a talk at Cornell University on November 16, 2013 at the occasion of the memorial Kenneth G. Wilson conference).
The gradient flow exact renormalization group (GFERG) is an exact renormalization group motivated by the Yang--Mills gradient flow and its salient feature is a manifest gauge invariance. We generalize this GFERG, originally formulated for the pure Yang--Mills theory, to vector-like gauge theories containing fermion fields, keeping the manifest gauge invariance. For the chiral symmetry we have two options: one possible formulation preserves the conventional form of the chiral symmetry and the other simpler formulation realizes the chiral symmetry in a modified form à la Ginsparg--Wilson. We wor…
We extend the relation between stochstic quantization and Holographic Wilsonian Renormalization Group to the massive fermion case in Euclidean AdS space. The original suggestion about the explicit relation between the two theories is in arXiv:1209.2242. To give a fermion bulk action the Dirichlet boundary condition and the Neumann boundary condition, there are some additional terms to the bulk action. We have confirmed that the relation also hold for massive fermion case.
The derivative expansion of the Wilsonian renormalization group generates additional terms in the effective beta-functions not present in the perturbative approach. Applied to the nonlinear sigma model, to lowest order the vanishing of the beta-function for the tachyon field generates an equation analogous to that found in open string field theory. Although the nonlinear term depends on the cut-off function, this arbitrariness can be removed by a rescaling of the tachyon field.
We show that the holomorphic Wilsonian beta-function of a renormalizable asymptotically free supersymmetric gauge theory with an arbitrary semi-simple gauge group, matter content, and renormalizable superpotential is exhausted at 1-loop with no higher loops and no non-perturbative contributions. This is a non-perturbative extension of the well known result of Shifman and Vainshtein.
We extend the Wilson renormalization group (RG) formulation to chiral gauge theories and show that local gauge symmetry can be implemented by a suitable choice of the RG flow boundary conditions. Since the space-time dimension is four, there is no ambiguity in handling the matrix $\g_5$ and left and right fermions are not coupled. As a result the ultraviolet action contains all possible globally chiral invariant interactions. Nevertheless, the correct chiral anomaly is reproduced.
We have studied holographic Wilsonian renormalization group (HWRG) of free massless fermionic fields in AdS space and its stochastic quantization(SQ) by identifying the Euclidean action with its boundary on-shell action. The natural extension of the relation between stochastic 2-point correlation function and double trace coupling obtained from HWRG computation conjectured in arXiv:1209.2242 to fermionic fields is established. We have confirmed that the stochastic 2-point function precisely captures the radial flow of the double trace coupling via this relation.
The Wilsonian renormalization group approach to matrix models is outlined and applied to multitrace matrix models with emphasis on the computation of the fixed points which could describe the phase structure of noncommutative scalar phi-four theory.
We show that an exact, non-critical-string cosmological configuration of dilaton and graviton backgrounds, found in [1], constitutes an infrared stable fixed point of an exact Wilsonian renormalization group equation.
We employ projection operator techniques in Hilbert space to derive a continuous sequence of effective Hamiltonians which describe the dynamics on successively larger length scales. We show for the case of ϕ^4 theory that the masses and couplings in these effective Hamiltonians vary in accordance with 1-loop renormalization group equations. This is evidence for an intimate connection between Wilson's renormalization and the venerable Bloch-Feshbach formalism.
We continue the study of the Wilson line representation of conformal blocks in two-dimensional conformal field theory; these have an alternative interpretation as gravitational Wilson lines in the context of the AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ correspondence. The gravitational Wilson line involves a path-ordered exponential of the stress tensor, and its expectation value can be computed perturbatively in an expansion in inverse powers of the central charge $c$. The short-distance singularities which occur in the associated stress tensor correlators require systematic regularization and renormalization prescri…
A new proof of perturbative renormalizability and infrared finiteness for a scalar massless theory is obtained from a formulation of renormalized field theory based on the Wilson renormalization group. The loop expansion of the renormalized Green functions is deduced from the Polchinski equation of renormalization group. The resulting Feynman graphs are organized in such a way that the loop momenta are ordered. It is then possible to analyse their ultraviolet and infrared behaviours by iterative methods. The necessary subtractions and the corresponding counterterms are automatically generated …
The non-linear way the anomalous dimension parameter has been introduced in the historic first version of the exact renormalization group equation is compared to current practice. A simple expression for the exactly marginal redundant operator proceeds from this non-linearity, whereas in the linear case, first order differential equations must be solved to get it. The role of this operator in the construction of the flow equation is highlighted.
We derive the Wilson-Polchinski RG equation in the planar limit. We explain that the equation necessarily involves also non-planar amplitudes with sphere topology, which represent multi-trace contributions to the effective action. The resulting RG equation turns out to be of the Hamilton-Jacobi type since loop effects manifest themselves through terms which are linear in first order derivatives of the effective action with respect to the sources. We briefly outline applications to renormalization of non-commutative field theories, matrix models with external sources and holography.
We study the conditions under which a symmetry is spontaneously broken in the Wilson renormalization group formulation. Both for a global and local symmetry, the result is that in perturbation theory one has to perform a fine tuning of the boundary conditions for the flow of the relevant couplings. We consider in detail the discrete $Z_2$ case and the Abelian Higgs model.
Given a Wilson action invariant under global chiral transformations, we can construct current composite operators in terms of the Wilson action. The short distance singularities in the multiple products of the current operators are taken care of by the exact renormalization group. The Ward-Takahashi identity is compatible with the finite momentum cutoff of the Wilson action. The exact renormalization group and the Ward-Takahashi identity together determine the products. As a concrete example, we study the Gaussian fixed-point Wilson action of the chiral fermions to construct the products of cu…
We present a line of reasoning based on the analysis of scale variations of the Wilsonian partition function and the trace of the stress tensor in a curved manifold which results in a statement of irreversibility of Wilsonian renormalization group flow for unitary theories. We also analyze subtleties related to subtractions in the case of the 1PI effective action flow.
We consider a functional relation between a given Wilsonian RG flow, which has to be related to a specific coarse-graining procedure, and an infinite family of (UV cutoff) scale dependent field redefinitions. Within this framework one can define a family of Wilsonian proper-time exact RG equations associated to an arbitrary regulator function. New applications of these RG flow schemes to the Ising Universality class in three dimensions in the derivative expansion are shortly illustrated.
We discuss the cyclic Wilson loop, i.e. a rectangular Wilson loop that spans the entire compactified time axis in the imaginary time formalism. The result of a perturbative calculation at $O(α_s^2)$ is given, with the main focus on the ultraviolet divergences of this operator. Based on a general analysis of divergences in loop diagrams, we find that, unlike usual Wilson loops, the cyclic loop does not have cusp divergences but intersection divergences, where the intersections arise due to the periodic boundary conditions. As a result, the cyclic Wilson loop itself is not multiplicatively renor…
We test the renormalization of Wilson operators and the Mandelstam- Leibbrandt gauge in the case when the sides of the loop are parallel to the n, n* vectors used in the M-L gauge. Graphs which in the Feynman gauge are free of ultra-violet divergences, in the M-L gauge show double divergences and single divergences with non-local Si and Ci functions. These non-local functions cancel out when we add all graphs together and the constraints of gauge invariance are satisfied. In Appendix C we briefly discuss the problems of the M-L gauge for loops containing spacelike lines.
We give a short overview of the renormalization properties of rectangular Wilson loops, the Polyakov loop correlator and the cyclic Wilson loop. We then discuss how to renormalize loops with more than one intersection, using the simplest non-trivial case as an illustrative example. Our findings expand on previous treatments. The generalized exponentiation theorem is applied to the Polyakov loop correlator and used to renormalize linear divergences in the cyclic Wilson loop.
We study the Principal Chiral Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson model around two dimensions within the Local Potential Approximation of an Exact Renormalization Group equation. This model, relevant for the long distance physics of classical frustrated spin systems, exhibits a fixed point of the same universality class that the corresponding Non-Linear Sigma model. This allows to shed light on the long-standing discrepancy between the different perturbative approaches of frustrated spin systems.
Inspired by the AdS/CFT correspondence, we develop an explicit formal duality between the planar limit of a d-dimensional gauge theory and a classical field theory in a (d+1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. The key ingredient is the identification of fields in AdS with generalized Hubbard-Stratonovich transforms of single-trace couplings of the QFT. We show that the Wilsonian renormalization group flow of these transformed couplings matches the holographic (Hamilton-Jacobi) flow of bulk fields along the radial direction in AdS. This result allows one to outline an AdS/CFT dictionary that doe…
We perform a calculation of the full momentum dependence of the gluon and ghost propagators in pure SU(3) Yang-Mills theory by integrating Wilson's exact renormalization group equations with respect to an infrared cutoff k. The heavy quark potential in the quenched approximation can be expressed in terms of these propagators. Our results strongly indicate a 1/p^4 behaviour of the heavy quark potential for $p^2 \to 0$. We show in general, that effective actions which satisfy Schwinger-Dyson equations, correspond to (quasi-) fixed points of Wilson's exact renormalization group equations.
We show that Polchinski equations in the D--dimensional matrix scalar field theory can be reduced at large $N$ to the Hamiltonian equations in a (D+1)-dimensional theory. In the subsector of the $\Tr ϕ^l$ (for all $l$) operators we find the exact form of the corresponding Hamiltonian. The relation to the Holographic renormalization group is discussed.
We discuss the relation between the Wilson's numerical renormalization group(NRG) for the Kondo impurity problem and a field theory in the background AdS_3 space time, where the radial coordinate plays a role of the controlling parameter of the effective mass scale. We find that the Wilson NRG can be described by the boundary Rindler field and then the cutoff parameter λof the Wilson NRG is related to the AdS radius L through λ= 2k_F/ωL, where k_F is the effective Fermi wave number. It is also found that the Rindler space is discretized with the lattice space of a=π/k_F.
We find a geometrical description from a field theoretical setup based on Wilson's renormalization group in real space. We show that renormalization group equations of coupling parameters encode the metric structure of an emergent curved space, regarded to be an Einstein equation for the emergent gravity. Self-consistent equations of local order-parameter fields with an emergent metric turn out to describe low energy dynamics of a strongly coupled field theory, analogous to the Maxwell equation of the Einstein-Maxwell theory in the AdS$_{d+2}$/CFT$_{d+1}$ duality conjecture. We claim that the …
We analyze a formulation of QED based on the Wilson renormalization group. Although the ``effective Lagrangian'' used at any given scale does not have simple gauge symmetry, we show that the resulting renormalized Green's functions correctly satisfies Ward identities to all orders in perturbation theory. The loop expansion is obtained by solving iteratively the Polchinski's renormalization group equation. We also give a new simple proof of perturbative renormalizability. The subtractions in the Feynman graphs and the corresponding counterterms are generated in the process of fixing the physica…
Using the Pauli-Villars regularization, we make a perturbative analysis of the quantum master equation (QME), $Σ=0$, for the Wilsonian effective action. It is found that the QME for the UV action determines whether exact gauge symmetry is realized along the renormalization group (RG) flow. The basic task of solving the QME can be reduced to compute the Troost-van Niuwenhuizen-Van Proyen jacobian factor for the classical UV action. When the QME cannot be satisfied, the non-vanishing $Σ$ is proportional to a BRS anomaly, which is shown to be preserved along the RG flow. To see how the UV action …
We extend the Wilson renormalization group (RG) to supersymmetric theories. As this regularization scheme preserves supersymmetry, we exploit the superspace technique. To set up the formalism we first derive the RG flow for the massless Wess-Zumino model and deduce its perturbative expansion. We then consider N=1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills and show that the local gauge symmetry -broken by the regularization- can be recovered by a suitable choice of the RG flow boundary conditions. We restrict our analysis to the first loop, the generalization to higher loops presenting no difficulty due to the …
The critical exponent $η$ is not well accounted for in the Polchinski exact formulation of the renormalization group (RG). With a particular emphasis laid on the introduction of the critical exponent $η$, I re-establish (after Golner, hep-th/9801124) the explicit relation between the early Wilson exact RG equation, constructed with the incomplete integration as cutoff procedure, and the formulation with an arbitrary cutoff function proposed later on by Polchinski. I (re)-do the analysis of the Wilson-Polchinski equation expanded up to the next to leading order of the derivative expansion. I fi…
We find renormalization group transformations for the compactified Randall-Sundrum scenario by integrating out an infinitesimal slice of ultraviolet degrees of freedom near the Planck brane. Under these transformations the coefficients of operators on the Planck brane experience RG evolution. The extra-dimensional radius also scales, flowing to zero in the IR. We find an attractive fixed point in the context of a bulk scalar field theory. Calculations are simplified in the low energy effective theory as we demonstrate with the computation of a loop diagram.
We discuss the scale-free property of Wilson's numerical renormalization group(NRG) for the Kondo impurity problem. The single-particle state of the effective Hamiltonian with a cutoff $Λ$ is described by the wavepacket basis having the scale free property; The energy scale of the system can be controlled by the lattice translation of the wavepacket basis with no reference of rescaling of the lattice space. We also analyze the role of the Kondo interaction in the context of wavepacket basis and then discuss the scaling and renormalization of the Kondo coupling. In addition, we clarify the role…
The Stueckelberg-Petermann renormalization group is the group of finite renormalizations of the S-matrix in the framework of causal perturbation theory. The renormalization group in the sense of Wilson relies usually on a functional integral formalism, it describes the dependence of the theory on a UV-cutoff $Λ$; a widespread procedure is to construct the theory by solving Polchinski's flow equation for the effective potential. To clarify the connection between these different approaches we proceed as follows: in the framework of causal perturbation theory we introduce an UV-cutoff $Λ$, define…
A heavy quark moving through a strongly coupled deconfined plasma has a holographic dual description as a string moving in a black brane geometry. We apply the holographic Wilsonian renormalization method to derive a holographic effective string action dual to the heavy quark. The effective action only depends on the geometry between the black brane horizon and a cutoff localized in the radial direction, corresponding to the IR of the dual theory. We derive RG flow equations for the coefficients in the effective action and show that the force acting on the heavy quark is independent of the pos…
The critical dynamics of the chiral symmetry breaking induced by gauge interaction is examined in the Wilson renormalization group framework in comparison with the Schwinger-Dyson approach. We derive the beta functions for the four-fermi couplings in the sharp cutoff renormalzation group scheme, from which the critical couplings and the anomalous dimensions of the fermion composite operators near criticality are immediately obtained. It is also shown that the beta functions lead to the same critical behavior found by solving the so-called ladder Schwinger-Dyson equation, if we restrict the rad…
